CASH IS KING - Cash Back & Gift Card Credit Card Rewards Prove Popular
Recently we have seen huge popularity and extensive choice of simple rewards – cash back or shopping voucher rewards. These rewards provide cardholders with a simple means of redeeming rewards points for easy-to-use vouchers, or even "cash" credited straight to their account. This type of reward is proving popular for time-scarce people who want to get something back for their spending loyalty, but don‘t have the time or patience to browse through catalogues looking for a worthwhile reward. To reflect this, CANSTAR CANNEX has developed three new profiles to run alongside the general rewards profiles – Cash Rewards, for $12k, $24k and $60 spend levels. Several different types of "cash" have been included in these profiles:
The reasoning behind including major shopping vouchers is that if people are rewarded in this way, they are more likely to use the card for their day-to-day spending, as the rewards are nearly as good as cash in hand. To recognise that "cash is king", and is ultimately more useful than a shopping voucher, part of the feature score is based on how close to cash the vouchers are – the breadth of day-to-day spending that the vouchers encompass. HOW MUCH IS MY CASH-BACK WORTH?In our April 2009 credit card rewards star ratings, 73 rewards programs were included in the Cash Rewards profiles. We found that the card giving the most money back is GE Money's Myer Visa if you spend either $12,000 or $24,000 per year on the card. Westpac's Altitude Platinum Rewards AMEX returned the most in the higher $60k annual spend level. Our money-back calculations include annual fees.In the General Rewards profiles, Westpac's Altitude programs scored the highest, with the standard Altitude providing the highest return for the $12k spend level, and the Altitude Platinum providing the highest return for the top two spend levels. 
The table below shows the reward return you could expect for General Rewards compared to Cash Rewards, for each spend level. For the $12k spend level, General Rewards and Cash Rewards are on par. As the annual spend increases, the return on General Rewards gains a margin over Cash Rewards. This is to be expected – there is no discount in providing cash! General rewards are another matter. Rewards programs can access wholesale prices to provide higher value rewards, e.g. electrical goods, holidays etc to their customers. Redeeming rewards in the form of cash or vouchers may mean you get a little less but it may well be worthwhile for those card-holders who prefer the simplicity and ability to redeem points on their day-to-day spending. Cash also allows you to source out discounted items and pay less than the retail price, and vouchers give you the flexibility to purchase your preferred brand.  Credit Card Rewards ... |
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