Competition for consumers’ dollars is fierce with credit card issuers and retailers jockeying for their business. A favorite way to lure customers their way–rewards points.
Once a staple of only the airline industry, rewards points have gone mainstream. The rewards have gotten more generous over the years and consumers have become wiser in how to obtain them. The pursuit of points has even spurred a new hobby with countless millennials chasing after them.
It’s something that doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon. According to an August survey by J.D. Power & Associates, the Costa, Mesa market research firm, an increasing number of consumers are switching credit cards, driven by rewards. J.D. Power & Associates found 47% of consumers who made a move in the past twelve months were motivated by rewards.
As a result, Americans have a lot of rewards points racking up, making it difficult to get a handle on it all. Navigating one loyalty program can be tough but multiply that by three or more and it’s no wonder so many rewards points go unused. According to a Bankrate.com study conducted last spring, about three in ten credit cardholders never redeem their reward points.
The good news: there are a handful of apps for that. Thanks to the prevalence of mobile phones, companies have emerged to help consumers keep track of their rewards points all in one place, usually with one or two taps of their mobile device. They are free to use, offering different levels of service and features. All want to help you manage your rewards better.
Here are four apps that can help you manage your rewards.
Points.com
An early player in managing reward points, Points.com is a Toronto-based technology company whose main business is providing technology and support to the companies that offer their customers rewards. But it also has a handy and free mobile app to help consumers keep track of their points.
Dubbed the Points Loyalty Wallet, customers can track, exchange and redeem points and airline miles. According to Points.com, the average loyalty member has 13 different programs requiring 13 different usernames and passwords. That means the average member has to log in to 13 different websites.
With the mobile app, you can see all your reward balances in one place and with a single login. After signing into the reward program through Points.com, your memberships are consolidated into one dashboard where you can view real-time updates to your points. The company boasts bank-like security when it comes to protecting your account information.
In addition to tracking points, users can convert points or miles from one loyalty program to another via the app’s exchange service. This may make sense for those consumers who want to increase points for one program to get closer to a reward, are trying to prevent points from expiring or simply want to put unused points to work elsewhere.
For customers who don’t know what to do with their points, the Points Loyalty Wallet also lets you redeem points for gift cards from a slew of retailers including Amazon.com, Target, Starbucks and Best Buy.
AwardWallet.com
Boasting more than 584,000 active members, over the past 15 years AwardWallet has helped consumers manage more than 142.4 billion miles and points, representing more than $2.8 billion in value. The free service, which is for both desktop computers and mobile phone users, tracks and monitors 692 reward programs.
In addition to keeping tabs on your points, customers are notified when their balances change or prior to their points expiring. The company prides itself on not being affiliated with any of the loyalty programs it tracks.
In addition to tracking rewards points, AwardWallet enables customers to view a chart of rewards balances over a period and export that information into Excel. The company also serves the business market, managing corporate reward balances for companies around the U.S. According to AwardWallet there are 10 trillion unused frequent flier miles, or 20% of all frequent flier miles, valued at more than $165 billion.
AwardWallet offers a free and paid membership. The paid membership costs $30 a year and, among other things, enables you to track the expiration of your miles or points on an unlimited number of accounts (you are limited to three accounts with the free membership). The paid membership also offers a tool to analyze your credit card spending to optimize the points earned with each merchant.
Stocard
One of the knocks against using loyalty cards is that it can be cumbersome to carry them around. Rush out to grab something from the grocery store without your loyalty card in hand and you are going to miss out on the discount. Stocard can help you manage that and ensure you don’t miss any rewards along the way. After all, we may leave our wallet at home, but how many are going to leave their smartphone behind?
With Stocard, consumers can store all of their reward cards in one mobile app. Stocard creates a digital copy of the rewards cards. Customers can either scan the barcode on the plastic card to add it to the mobile app or enter the account number manually. At the store, customers use their digital card to receive discounts and rewards as if they were using the physical card.
The mobile app, which is free, also shows your current point balances, the locations of stores near you and the best deals and coupons matching the stores you frequent. Stocard, which is available for Android and iOS devices, also enables customers to sign up for new rewards programs without having to leave the app.
Key Ring
With a user base of more than 10 million, Key Ring is a popular mobile app. It not only lets you house all your rewards cards digitally in one place, but it also offers up customized deals and discounts based on your shopping preferences.
Overhauled at the start of 2017, Key Ring has become a place for consumers to plan, save and organize their rewards cards and points. Customers tap on the My Key Ring tab to view their rewards cards and additional ways to save.
With the overhaul of the app, Key Ring added the ability to follow stores even if you don’t have a loyalty card, so you don’t miss out on sales or coupons. The mobile app also includes the Nearby Tab that shows deals and discounts that are close to them when out shopping. It also offers the ability to search retailers to find out if there are additional ways to save in the store. The search feature enables you to look for specific products to find out where you’ll get the biggest discount on your purchase.
Like the other apps, it’s free but users have to upload their loyalty reward card account information to take advantage of the service.
