As competition in the UK credit card industry has consistently increased in recent years, credit card providers have been searching for more and more ways to attract customers to their own package of products. Most have gone about this by dropping prices with credit card rates available today that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. It is now possible to find 0% credit card interest rates not only on balance transfers but also on purchases. While these rates may only be available for limited introductory periods of a few months, it is easy to see how prices have continued to drop across the market as credit card providers have been searching for new ways to attract customers.
One method that the credit card companies have been very keen to use to attract customers is by offering reward schemes and incentives. These schemes are generally targeted at the higher end of the market and wealthier customers and they will be of more interest to customers who usually pay off their entire credit card bills in full every month thus incurring no interest charges. This means that since these customers are already paying no interest, they will be looking for other feature that will make credit cards stand out and attract them. Reward credit cards are specifically designed for this purpose.
Reward credit cards will give you rewards based on the amount you spend on the credit card. You will generally find that there are three methods of accruing rewards. You will either be getting cash back on the card such as a certain percentage of everything you spend. Another method of rewarding customers will be to give them points or another form of token to collect. These points can then be redeemed for gifts such as luggage, aftershave and whatever else the credit card company can think of offering. While many of these reward schemes offer very attractive gifts and a great range of choices, it is probably preferable to have a cash back reward as then you can spend the money on whatever you like.
The final common method of reward is with airmiles. Airmiles are a very popular reward as most customers have reported that they love redeeming them for free flights or even flight upgrades to business or first class tickets. Whatever kind of reward credit card you opt for, look carefully at the amount or speed at which rewards will accumulate, for example some credit cards will offer you one air mile for every pound you spend while others will offer four. This is a big difference. Also make sure you take the other terms and conditions into account.
Recently, there has been a report published stating that many people are not using their loyalty points. This of course defeats the whole point of using a reward credit card. It was found that the most used rewards credit card was in fact Goldfish and with many other credit cards it was found that only 10 per cent used their reward points.
Peter Kenny is a writer for creditcards-gb
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