According to the research, 25% of consumers neither expressed satisfaction nor dissatisfaction with their rewards card, and 31% of consumers perceived rewards to be less valuable than a year ago.
ACG managing director Matt Simester said the results show that consumers are demanding more valuable rewards propositions, and issuers will need to find creative ways to deliver the value sought by consumers.
"This will be a challenge as it requires rewards programs to be funded; potentially making fees the price of entry for consumers. Investing in rewards would not only improve satisfaction and retention levels of existing customers, but would likely drive an increase in acquisition volumes from the large segment of rewards cardholders that are seeking more valuable rewards programs," said Simester.
Reward credit card spending is 50% higher than non-reward cardholders and in the UK, 56% of credit card holders own a rewards card and this trend is growing.
The study points out that 26% of credit cardholders utilize their frequently used card due to the value of their rewards programs while 33% consumers were interested in receiving a better value of rewards, while 24% of consumers were interested in the ability to earn rewards faster across categories.
The research also revealed that nearly 23% of consumers were extremely interested in the ability to earn rewards in more categories.
