Canadians Prefer Cash Over Travel For Credit Card Loyalty Programs

Toronto, ONTARIO - According to a new Ipsos-Reid survey conducted on behalf of Scotiabank, six in ten (61%) Canadians find cash rebates appealing. This compares to travel points or travel miles (45%), rewards points towards investments (34%), merchandise rewards (34%), and automotive purchase rewards (22%).

Yet, slightly more than half (54%) of Canadians whose primary credit card has a reward or loyalty program have a travel points/miles rewards card as their primary credit card. The next most widely held primary cards are those with merchandise rewards (45%) followed by cash rebate rewards (25%), credit/points towards a car (4%) and rewards points towards investments (3%).

These are some of the findings of a national Ipsos-Reid telephone poll conducted on behalf of Scotiabank between September 7th and September 14 2004. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,200 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results for the general population sample are considered accurate to within 177 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margins of error are larger within regions and other sub-groupings within the survey population.

Canadians Find Cash Most Appealing Type Of Reward Program

Respondents were read a list of different types of rewards program and asked how appealing each one was to them, using a five-point scale where `5' means very appealing and `1' means not at all appealing. A clear 61% of Canadians said that they found cash rebates appealing, (4 or 5 response), followed by 45% for travel points or travel miles, 34% for rewards points towards investments, 34% for merchandise rewards and 22% for automotive purchase rewards.

• Women were significantly more likely than men, to find merchandise rewards (38% versus 29% of men) and cash rebates (65% versus 55% of men) appealing.

• Canadians adults under the age of 55 are significantly more likely than those over the age of 55 to find merchandise rewards (36% versus 26% age 55+), cash rebate rewards (65% versus 50% age 55+), and rewards points for investments (29% versus 21% age 55+) more appealing.

Yet, Slightly More Than Half Of Canadians Whose Primary Credit Card Has A Reward Or Loyalty Program Have Travel Rewards

Slightly more than half (54%) of Canadians whose primary credit card has a reward or loyalty program have travel points/miles rewards. The next most widely held primary cards are those with merchandise rewards (45%) followed by cash rebate rewards (25%), credit/points towards a car (4%) and rewards points towards investments (3%).

• Regionally, those in the Prairies (68%) are most likely to hold travel rewards cards, followed by residents of British Columbia (61%), Atlantic Canada (52%), Ontario (49%) and Quebec (45%).

Please open the attached PDF to view the factum and detailed tables.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900