At the end of 2023, consumers were especially budget-conscious, as they faced higher-priced items like groceries and gas combined with the holiday shopping season. The result? To save money, 97 million cardholders turned to card-linked offers, according to PYMNTS Intelligence and Banyan, which collaborated to survey consumers in late December. PYMNTS reports that discounts and rewards drove interest in these offers and even influenced spending decisions.
Despite the enthusiasm from this large cohort, PYMNTS data says there’s plenty of room for increased adoption: “This marketing practice has become so popular that four in 10 cardholders in the U.S. have used one of these offers in the last 12 months. However, many consumers still do not use card-linked offers (CLSs) simply because they do not know how they work.”
Our team reviewed the results of the PYMNTS Intelligence/Banyan survey (available in their (“Leveraging Item-Level Receipt Data: How Card-Linked Offers Helped Drive Year-End Spend” report), and we found several takeaways that point to opportunities for credit card marketers.
These offers influence consumers’ behavior. “More than half of cardholders were interested in switching to merchants providing product-specific card-linked offers. This suggests that tailored and relevant offers are an effective tool for engaging today’s shoppers” (PYMNTS).
- Card marketing takeaway: Personal, timely, relevant offers can capture spend.
These offers can lead to word-of-mouth advertising. 76% of consumers shared available discounts with friends and family (PYMNTS).
- Card marketing reminder: There’s power in referrals!
Not all card-linked offers are created equal. Nearly 1 in 5 consumers say the offers they received were irrelevant (PYMNTS).
- Card marketing opportunity: Better data for better personalization.
Many consumers are confused by card-linked offers. “Hesitance around using card-linked offers stems mostly from a lack of information, suggesting that increasing consumer understanding could increase cardholders’ usage of these offers” (PYMNTS).
- Card marketing takeaway: Education – including “how to” content – has value for consumers and may increase card usage.
These offers interest *many* consumer segments. While Generation Z and consumers with children are most likely to use card-linked offers, Millennials and those earning over $100K/year are also among the top users (PYMNTS).
- Card marketing takeaway: There is no single consumer profile for a “discount shopper,” so messages about opportunities to save when using the card have broad appeal.
Only one in five consumers say they received card-linked offers from their bank or credit card company, while nearly 30% reported receiving them from third-party apps or loyalty platforms (PYMNTS).
- Card marketing takeaway: There’s room for FIs and card issuers to amp up offerings and messaging.