A majority of credit card holders are using cashback cards while a growing number of consumers are switching to value cards, according to J.D. Power’s 2024 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study released today. The survey found that 58% of respondents used cashback cards, 31% used points/miles cards and 11% used value cards.
More than half of cardholders (54%) are now classified as financially unhealthy, which may explain a recent shift in the number of people using cashback and value cards, according to J.D. Power. The use of points/miles cards by financially unhealthy cardholders dropped from 31% in 2023 to 27% in 2024, with concurrent growth in the use of cashback and value cards. One reason provided by respondents for moving to cashback and value cards is to incur lower or no annual fees. Cashback cardholders also said they redeem rewards more often for a statement credit.
The survey also found that overall cardholder satisfaction dropped by two points in 2024 to 610 on a 1,000-point scale. Satisfaction improved by two points among cardholders without revolving debt but declined by five points among those with revolving debt. Overall satisfaction scores were 61 points lower among cardholders carrying debt (580) than among those without debt (641).