Payment Industry Insider

According to a recent report from Mercator Advisory Group, financial institutions should strengthen rewards to develop deeper relationships with their customers.

Bank of America has taken this very seriously and in a bold move has introduced the BankAmericard Rewards card program. They claim it’s the richest and the most flexible rewards program with no annual fee.

This new card offers 1.25 points per purchase dollar on every purchase, plus an annual rewards bonus of 25% for maintaining their banking relationship.

It has no limitation on points and offers the most comprehensive redemption options. To top it all off, it also offers a concierge service.

To my amazement even their rates were competitive. They offer three variable card programs. Platinum at 9.99%, Gold at 13.99% and Preferred at 18.99%.

This is an aggressive approach to develop deeper relationships with existing and new customers. The standards for a rewards program keeps changing and BofA has just raised the bar. Compared to the Capital One No Hassle Card, the Chase Freedom Card, the Citi Diamond Card and Blue from American Express - this card is in a league of it’s own.

Some credit unions are still evaluating if they should offer a rewards program and some have started offering one, but with limitations. It’s time we became aggressive in our rewards offering and took advantage of every opportunity to promote a rewards program.

I’m interested to hear about your rewards program and how you fight to remain competitive. Please share your success stories and ideas.