Credit card reward scheme offers declining
Customers are experiencing decreasing access to credit card reward schemes as companies make fewer offers and users face difficulty redeeming prizes.
Since last year, there has been an 11 per cent decline in the proportion of cards that offer reward schemes according to research from Sainsbury's Finance, down from 78 per cent in 2008.
The previously prominent cash rewards and shopping discounts that were paired with cards are now being scaled back in favour of Air Miles bonuses or loyalty points.
Of the schemes that do exist, only 54 per cent of customers are taking advantage of the financial benefits.
While this leaves out about half rewards customers, the proportion using their rewards is up from 23 per cent who cashed in card bonuses last year.
"The recession has made a lot of people reassess their finances and it's great to see that people are starting to make the most of the rewards on offer via their credit cards," said Craig Hunter of Sainsbury's Credit Cards.
He added: "The credit card industry still has a lot of work to do however, as 46 per cent of people still say that they haven't reclaimed the rewards they've earned in the past year, often because of their view of the scheme they have."
Surveys show the remaining credit card users haven't redeemed rewards primarily because the financial incentive isn't high enough or the redemption process is too complex, despite the value of rewards averaging £79.33.
"There is no point offering reward schemes if there is no perceived value or if it is too difficult to redeem the rewards," said Mr Hunter.
Likely because of the poor perception, almost a third of credit card holders chose cards that don't have reward schemes at all.
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