Does your keychain hold more loyalty card fobs than keys? If you are part of the typical American household, then the answer could very well be yes. According to the 2011 Colloquy Loyalty Census, the average household holds 18 loyalty program memberships.
Today, there are over two billion memberships in the U.S., up 16 percent from 1.8 billion in 2008. In Canada, the number of memberships has grown roughly four percent since 2009.
According to Colloquy, the total value of points (and miles) issued to U.S. members in 2010 came to $48 billion. Roughly one-third of those rewards, however, go unclaimed.
Another survey of consumers by Capital One Financial found that 57 percent of consumers had not redeemed points in the past three months. According to a Dow Jones Newswires report, "Cardholders often cited the difficulty of redeeming the rewards, a lack of flexibility or a dearth of attractive redemption options."
A New York Times piece suggests that companies offering rewards should work together to make programs more "interchangeable." The same piece pointed to Upromise as one of the few programs where consumers could accrue points from "competitors within industries and companies in different industries" in a single account.
A blog by Sonali Verma on The Globe and Mail website equated loyalty programs with religion. "Either you're a true believer, or you're not. The first group loves the idea of getting something for nothing. (One of my colleagues went all the way to China and back on her reward points.) The second group cannot be bothered to collect points, even if it means leaving money on the table."
- The Billion Member March: The 2011 COLLOQUY Loyalty Census Growth and Trends in Loyalty-Program Membership and Activity - Colloquy
- All About Your Unused Rewards Points - The New York Times
- Capital One: Card Rewards Programs Fluster Some Consumers - Dow Jones Newswires/The Wall Street Journal
- Points of no return: Tips on rewards - The Globe and Mail