Credit Card Benefits

The In Focus topic in this month’s issue of Cardbeat is Credit Card Benefits. We looked at a list of benefits that are usually positioned as secondary or support benefits as opposed to the main element of a card’s value proposition. Often these types of benefits are offered on all cards of a particular issuer or they may be specific to a particular platform (i.e., the premium cards offered by Visa Signature require that the issuer provide certain benefits). We tested a wide range of benefits offered by many different issuers. The benefits analyzed in this report include:

• $0 liability if fraudulent charges are made with your card
• Free credit score and e-mail updates of activities that affect score changes
• Coupons for discounts at popular merchants
• Automatic discounts recognized as rebates on your next statement for making purchases at popular merchants (no coupons required - it’s automatic)
• Collision and damages waiver on car rentals
• Accidental death and dismemberment insurance when traveling
• Reimbursement of stolen or damaged items if purchased within 90 days
• Free identity theft management tools
• Emergency card replacement
• Paying your credit card bill online
• Early/premium/discounted access to highly demanded concerts and local events
• Extended manufacturer’s warranty
• Reimbursement of lost/damaged/stolen luggage
• Trip cancellation/ interruption coverage
• Price protection (within 60 days of purchase if you see a printed advertisement with a price lower than what you paid, you will receive a refund for the difference)
• Virtual/disposable, single-use account numbers that you request each time you make an online purchase, so that it is extremely difficult for anyone to steal your account number while you are shopping online
• Having your picture and signature on the front of your card as an added security measure
• Online budgeting tools and tips to help manage your finances
• Additional cards for family members
• Concierge services (including travel planning)
• No foreign exchange fees

In this issue, we re-examine consumers’ knowledge and interest in credit card benefits, and gauge the opportunity for lenders to leverage these benefits in their marketing endeavors. We repeated many of the questions that were used in the July 2008 issue of Cardbeat and expanded the list of benefits for this issue.

Data included in this report were gathered using a web survey administered to 419 credit card users in the U.S. during November 2009.