Consumers Favor Cash Back Over Other Rewards As a Counter to Inflation, J.D. Power Finds

Cashback has replaced miles and rewards as the top credit card perk consumers want, according to J.D. Power’s 2024 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study.

The trend is being driven by inflationary pressures that have hiked credit card interest rates and annual fees. As a result, consumers are gravitating to cards they feel offer incentives that can help them offset the effects of inflation.

Some 58% of cardholders use cashback cards, compared to 31% using cards that earn points or miles. Just 11% of cardholders surveyed use cards that offer no incentives.

For the study, J.D. Power received 38,852 responses from credit card customers between June 2023 and June 2024.

One reason why consumers prefer cashback cards is that a good portion of issuers either don’t charge an annual fee or charge a lower annual fee than issuers of other types of rewards cards, says John Cabell, managing director of payments intelligence for J.D. Power.

The average annual fee for a cashback card is $44, compared to $140 for a card offering miles. In addition, 10% of cashback card issuers don’t charge an annual fee.

Among consumers with a cashback card, 21% redeem that incentive for a credit on their monthly statement, compared to 9% for consumers that have cards on which they can redeem miles or points.

“Annual fees are pushing [consumers] towards economizing when it comes to card products,” Cabell says.

Consumers’ desire to earn statement credits is being driven in part by their rising credit card debt. For the second consecutive year, more than half of respondents (51%) are revolving that debt, according to the study. In addition, the average interest rate for new purchases increased to 15.6% in 2024, up from 14.6% in 2023, and cardholders are spending $103 less per month, on average, than in 2023, according to the study.

Prior to 2023, the majority of credit cardholders paid their balances in full each month compared to rolling all or a portion of it over, Cabell adds.

When it comes to satisfaction with credit cards, consumers who carry a balance tend to be less satisfied than those who don’t. The average satisfaction score for consumers carrying a balance is 590, compared to 641 for those who don’t carry one. Overall, the consumer satisfaction score for credit cards was 610, down from 612 in 2023.

Among card issuers, American Express Co. receives the highest score from consumers for the fifth consecutive year. AmEx posted a satisfaction score of 634, followed by Discover (629) and Capital One (620), which earlier this year reached an agreement to acquire Discover.

What keeps AmEx atop the leaderboard is its combination of products and services. J.D. Power says. “AmEx offers products that consumers feel have rich rewards and benefits, which is favored by consumers that tend to focus on that,” Cabell says. “Plus, American Express’s service level enhances the brand. It’s a virtuous circle.”