Survey: Half of credit card holders don’t care about rewards

New York— If credit card issuers stopped offering rewards, a slight majority of American credit cardholders wouldn’t change their spending habits. According to a new Bankrate.com survey, 51% of U.S. credit card holders say they would keep using the card the same way they did previously.



Another 26% would use the card less often and 19% would stop using it entirely.



The single biggest reason Americans use credit cards is because they are easier and more convenient than paying with cash (40% of respondents gave that answer). Financing emergency expenses was a distant second at 19%, and earning rewards ranked third with 14% of the vote.



Only one in nine U.S. credit cardholders are “very” or “somewhat” likely to let their credit card issuer share information about them with outside parties, such as merchants and marketers, in exchange for more rewards points. Seven in 10 (72%) are “not at all” likely to allow this practice.