The census found that membership in US financial services rewards programmes has reached 422.0 million, a 77% increase since the 2007 census, sending financial services past airline frequent flyer programmes as the country's largest market for customer loyalty programmes. In contrast, airline loyalty programmes account for only 277.4 million members.
The census showed that total membership in US loyalty rewards programmes has reached an estimated total of 1.808 billion. Programme memberships ranked by industry were as follows:
| Industry sector | Memberships |
Financial services | 422.0m |
Airlines | 277.4m |
Specialty retail | 191.3m |
Hotels | 161.8m |
Grocery | 153.3m |
Mass merchants | 124.8m |
Gaming | 106.0m |
Department stores | 92.8m |
Drug stores | 73.9m |
Fuel convenience | 51.2m |
Restaurants | 13.7m |
Car rental & cruises | 10.7m |
Other | 127.9m |
Total | 1.808bn |
Figure 1: US loyalty scheme memberships
Source: Colloquy - 2009 US Loyalty Marketing Census
"Clearly, loyalty membership growth in the financial services sector was pronounced during much of our latest census period, prior to the economic free fall," said Colloquy partner Kelly Hlavinka. "Just a few years ago, the industry regularly talked about how 50% of all credit cards had reward programmes tied in. Today, estimates range from 75% to 80%. For debit cards, 2006 estimates were 10% to 15%, but latest industry analyses put the numbers at 25% to 50% due to the explosion of merchant funded network programmes. Rarely are companies truly thinking through how crowded the marketplace has become and how to evolve their loyalty strategy to differentiate from competitors."
However, Colloquy also predicts that financial services reward programme membership will experience slow growth in the coming years, and highlights regulatory changes in the US that may affect reward programme budgets, portfolio consolidation, and even cause some card issuers to exit the marketplace. "Card issuers will turn from growing their portfolios to retaining their most profitable and credit-worthy customers," concluded Colloquy's editorial director, Rick Ferguson.
For the purpose of the census, a loyalty marketing programme is defined as recognising and rewarding the best customers of a business. Overall, the census covers 13 industry sectors, and counts programme memberships rather than unique individuals. A white paper entitled 'The Big Sort: The 2009 COLLOQUY Loyalty Marketing Census', explaining the latest census findings, has been made available for free download from Colloquy's web site - click here (free registration required). - click here (free registration required).
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