What Credit Card Users want their Cards to do for Them
66Credit card users
What credit card holders want from their service providers and merchants
Consumers are the driving force behind the activities of the marketplace as they dictate what services and merchandise are of importance to them. Consumer demands set the trend for the business world. Business savvy financial service providersand merchants use consumer demands as indicators to develop their loyalty programs. Issuing credit cards with offers which do not appeal to customers spells bad business for service providers and merchants. Product development should be more consumer-centric if it is to be successful. Businesses that issue credit cards should structure their loyalty programs based on the most valued indicators shown by credit cardholders. We live in a technological age and customers are becoming increasingly tech-savvy. This has created a need for real time service, regardless of difference in location between the consumer and the business. Consumers expect service providers, merchants and financial institutions to fulfill their needs whenever they want it and wherever they want it.
Researchers such as Mintel gather information on consumer preferences and highlight key factors that consumers value in a credit card. One such research revealed that consumers prefer to earn special deals, earn cash rebates which cut everyday expenses and access special experiences which includeluxury destinationsfor trips and hotel stays. Researches such as this play a key role in product development as the end product would provide exactly what credit card holders want their cards to do for them.
A good example of using customer feedback and customer involvement to develop a product is the development of the Priority Club Select Visa Card. This initiative was a joint effort between IHGand Chase. Using direct feedback from a core group of their customers from the Priority Club Rewards cardholders group, the service providers were able to gain accurate knowledge of what their customers valued in their credit card. The Priority Club Select Visa Card is travel specific, and the feedback revealed cardholders valued features such as point earnings on every day purchases and a unique redemption rebate, no foreign transaction fees, annual free nights usable around the world and increased point earnings at IHG hotels.
IHG and Chase realized that credit cardholders were not using the cards and their associated benefits to their fullest potential and revamped their offerings to the customer. This is the desired action of a business savvy investor who values the input of their customers. With the Priority Club Select Visa Card customers now have a value filled card which is highly rated by the cardholders and not just the service providers. Card holders are satisfied that the card is worth the annual charge fees. Customer appreciation is evident in the increase in new customers and the number of existing cardholders who choose to upgrade their account.
Credit card customers prefer rewards for card usage. Some financial institutions such as the Bank of America Corp. have taken note of this, and have developed new products geared towards satisfying this demand. Customers were recently offered a card which will gives them 1% cash back on most spending, 2% on groceries and 3% on gas purchases. Financial Corp. now offer a cash back Mastercard which offers customers a one-time cash back bonus of $100 if they spend $500 in the first three months, and on the anniversary of opening the account they will receive a further 50% of the total cash they received during the first year. Incentives are given for cards which are used frequently.
A consumer valued credit card can only be developed if financial service providersand merchants use consumer demands in the development process rather than offering a card which dictates what they want to offer. Credit card customers feel justified in paying theannual service charge for a card that provide the things they value, and they are more likely to remain loyal to service providers who provide this card.
Credit cards
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Stainless Steel Wallet - Protect Your RFID Credit Cards - Bi-Fold Design
Current Bid: $12.99
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10 RFID Credit Card Secure Sleeve Protector Shields
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Vintage 1970's Zayre Department Store Credit Card
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FREE POS Hypercom T 4205 T7plus CREDIT CARD Terminal W/Approved Merchant Account
Current Bid: $.50
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That's true LADYGIRL. It seems though that customers are not opposed to paying the fees if they deem the benefits to valuable enough. I saw that coming out in the response to the Priority Club Select Visa Card that IHG and Chase offered.
No doubt there are credit cards which will only be offered to select customers as service providers rethink their method of randomly offering credit cards to just about anyone. They now spend more time seeking out customers with good credit ratings and who will apparently be able to pay on time instead of having to have debt collectors hunt down delinquent creditors.
Overall it is up to the consumer to be wise and pay attention to the fine print.
I agree, however that how delinquent customer exist, by not being totally honest. Nine times out of ten a good creditor become a bad creditor. Yes there is the fine print on the back of the application. Now I repeat, I said the "FINE PRINT." The banks know that a customer isn't going to read it, that why they do what they do. Attach a lot of fees on the account to collect there money and your credit is SHOT.
A messy credit world that makes. I agree that the fine print is an underhanded tactic that banks and other creditors use to their advantage.
I'm telling you the Banks, Mortgage Company's, Loan Store's all are there to make money on every dollar that they earn. That why they deal with the Federal Reserve Bank, because they determine how the interest rate come about each and every day for all the financial institutions. So trust me it a method to there madness.
Good point.
I really do not doubt the "evil" of the system but I think that we as a people have to wisen-up instead of allowing these creditors to take us for a ride which leaves us in the red and them much richer.
Some of us need to curb our appetite and forego the temptation to spend sometimes. Its more like a case of the shark and its prey. We all have to use the sea but we know sharks are there and so we go with caution and protect ourselves by not just wading into the sea. We use boats etc. How much more will some of us laugh while spending and then hollar when the bill comes.
The creditors are tactical in using us as their feeding trees and we need to become tactical in giving them our fruits.
I concur, I like the analogy with the sharks in the sea, well said. You know we as individual always live beyond are means, and we really don't care. That why we always get our self in a fix. However you know what I say leave the credit alone and use your own money you work hard for and save.
I agree with that :. When the cash is done is done its done until more comes along. Envelope budgeting is a great way to go.
LADYGIRL 7 months ago
It's a good Hub, however these different credit card company or the bank institutions offer these incentive to the customer. Well it sound good with the different offers, when a new program comes into play trust me there will be a higher fee on either the interest, late fees or over the limited etc. It doesn't matter that banks will change the interest at any time, that my friends is written in stone on the fine print of the back of credit forms when you received the application. I've work for a bank for 18 years. Once the bank offer any incentive plan, somewhere, somehow a couple of fee is coming around the corner, that how the banks make there money.