Roughly $48 billion in loyalty rewards are dispensed each year, yet one-third of that amount is never redeemed. Why? Rewards limitations and expiration dates play a major role, according to a recent CardHub report, which examined the fine print of rewards credit card offers from the 10 largest issuers in order to determine what types of restrictions consumers should be on the look-out for most.
A few of CardHub’s main findings are listed below. For the full 2014 Credit Card Rewards Study, please visit: http://www.cardhub.com/edu/credit-card-rewards-study/
- Capital One cards have the fewest reward limitations, with all of them receiving an overall Rewards Friendliness Score of 96.43%.
- The Discover It Card has the most rewards limitations, earning the lowest overall score in the study (35.71%).
- Rewards expiring after a missed payment and requirements that consumers meet a minimum threshold before rewards could be redeemed were the most common limitations found amongst all reward cards, accounting for 90% and 79% respectively.
- Barclaycard, Capital One and Wells Fargo received the highest scores (100%) in the Rewards Earning category, while Discover received the lowest score (16.67%).
- Capital One received the highest score (100%) in the Rewards Redemption category, while Discover received the lowest score (60%).
- Bank of America received the highest score(100%) in the Rewards Expiration category, while Citibank, Barclaycard, and Discover tied for the lowest score in this category (33.33%).
