Consumers’ rewards redemption increased
markedly in the third quarter, according to Capital One’s Rewards
Barometer survey.
Capital One said that 47% of consumers
surveyed redeemed at least a portion of their rewards in the three
months to end September (43.1% in Q1 and 43% in the second
quarter).
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Results also indicated “free money” continues
to be the top motivation for consumers to earn and redeem rewards
(60.6%) and nearly half (41%) of respondents had previously
redeemed credit card rewards for cash.
Most frequent use for cash rewards included
applying it towards payment of a monthly credit card balance
(39.5%) and depositing cash rewards into a personal savings account
(23.1%).
Troy Jamison, Vice President of Loyalty
Programs at Capital One said:
“The current economic landscape is weighing on
consumers’ minds. Maximising credit card rewards is one way
consumers can offset the impact to their wallets.
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By GlobalData“A credit card rewards programme that meets
your spending needs is key, and cash rewards offer consumers
additional flexibility.”
Rewards Satisfaction
Trends
Other findings of the quarterly survey
included a rise in customer satisfaction levels.
Consumer satisfaction with rewards credit card
customer service has been on the rise throughout 2011. Satisfaction
has steadily increased since the first quarter, with the number of
cardholders who rank customer service as “excellent” growing from
25% to 32% in the third quarter.
The number of consumers completely satisfied
with their overall rewards credit card programme increased just
over 2 points from the first quarter (21.7%) to the third quarter
(23.9%).
That said, blackout dates (25.8%) and
inability to book last minute travel (22.5%) continue to top
barriers preventing consumers from redeeming their rewards for
travel.
