NEW YORK—Ongoing inflation has driven more cardholders to use their rewards points for purchases, but too many people are leaving too much money on the table, a new study shows.
According to a new CreditCards.com survey, 23% of rewards cardholders haven’t redeemed any rewards over the past year.
That’s an improvement from the 31% of rewards card users who didn’t redeem any rewards in 2020, but almost a quarter of cash back and travel cardholders still are not using their points, CNBC noted in its analysis.
“In the realm of credit card rewards, cash back remains king. During the past year, more than half (55%) of rewards cardholders redeemed their rewards for cash back or gift cards,” CNBC reported. “A quarter of rewards card users redeemed for travel, such as a free hotel stay or airfare.”
Younger Cardholders More Active
The data show younger cardholders have been using their rewards to get to places, with 42% of Gen Z and 39% of Millennials with rewards credit cards redeeming their rewards for travel in the past year. Only 17% of Gen X and 14% of Boomers did the same, CNBC noted.
Older generations are also more likely to hoard their rewards: 28% of both Gen X and Boomers with rewards cards didn’t redeem any of their rewards over the past year. In comparison, only 15% of Millennials and 18% of Gen Z rewards cardholders didn’t use any of their card rewards, CNBC said.
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