Matt Freeman, head of credit card products at Navy Federal Credit Union, finds that customers redeem more when they receive reminders about their rewards.
"In my experience the more our members are reminded about their card benefits, including their rewards bank, the more they redeem," said Freeman, adding that Navy Federal's cash-back credit card, cashRewards, is its most popular card across all generations.
Well, it's easy to forget about on their app because it's hidden under "more". So, unless you go on their website or remember to look for it, you don't see it.
I work with a guy who has had his NFCU Flagship Visa for a million years and has NEVER redeemed his rewards. It is his primary card. I have known him for 4 years and have never seen him reach for any other card. I can’t begin to imagine how many points he must have! He eats out most meals and does a lot of entertaining of friends, business partners, and family. I’ve been urging him to take a trip on points. I explained the new points system NFCU rolled out recently and nudged him to redeem now that it’s even easier to use the points. Still no redemptions *sigh*
Ah hell, while I've redeemed cash back previously I never did anything with my Chase UR and for the last nearly two years other than occasional gas purchases I haven't used any non-Chase tradeline and my CSR gets swiped virtually everywhere.
Finally redeemed some yesterday to book one of my monthly hops up to SF and back from LA even if that undoubtedly wasn't the best use of my points in terms of maximizing value, I can basically cover all 3 years that this project is supposed to last with free flights at about 2 cpp value.