The Relevance of Loyalty in Credit Cards Today

A cursory check on the major banks in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and India revealed that almost all of the card products come with a default rewards program of some sorts. The most common form of rewards currency are points, rebates, and airline miles.

There was a time when loyalty programs were deemed the 'killer application' for credit cards. But there seems to be a growing proliferation of 'run-of-the-mill' programs.

What is the relevance of a card loyalty program to an issuer? Have we lost sight of the true business reasons for wanting a loyalty program in the first place?

In the next few weeks, I will be working on a white paper to explore this topic. In the meantime, do share with me your views.

The beginning of something... I think.

They say that procrastination is bad. I agree. I have long since wanted to start a blog on card and loyalty marketing issues rather than a "personal" blog with endless meanderings. But it never really got off the ground.

This is a bad sign of "having the means but lacking the will". So, forcing myself to leave meaningful footprint on the web, here's my maiden post.

The world of card marketing is crazy, and wonderful at the same time. Life would be boring without it.