My expectation is that Chase, Amex, and Citi are all paying 0.8 to 1.1 cents per point for transfers to most frequent flyer programs, so Chase would likely prefer that you transfer your points to United or Hyatt and use them there than redeem for 1.5 cpp against a travel purchase. Whether you get more than that in value from the frequent flyer program is subjective, but Chase isn't paying your valuation.
Transferring from the CFU or CIU to the CSR and redeeming at 1.5 cpp is likely unprofitable for Chase, but any other redemption is likely profitable, so I personally am not worried too much about point combination being cut. At some point, Chase might have to offer a 2% cash back card because that's what their competitors (Citi, Fidelity, Goldman/Apple kind of) market, at which point we might see the end of either combinable points or 1.5 cpp redemptions. Of the folks that get a cash-back card, I would wager that a minuscule amount are expecting to also get a high annual fee credit card and redeem for travel, at which point as a bank exec you re-align products to their core demographics.