CardRatings.com Survey Finds Credit Card Holders Remain Loyal
Foster City, CA (PRWEB) December 16, 2013 -- Consumers who find the number of credit cards in their wallet stacking up over time are not alone, according to a new survey conducted by Op4G for CardRatings.com. The survey of 2,000 adults found that Americans can be easily tempted into buying a new card with great rewards perks or a celebrity endorsement, but they’re even more likely to still be hanging on to their old credit card despite the new card in their wallet.
So, how long do consumers hang on to their cards?
• 63.1 percent of survey respondents have held one of their current credit cards for five years or more
• 37.5 percent have had a card for at least 10 years
And the results are even more impressive among older consumers, due in part to younger survey respondents possibly not being old enough to own a credit card for a full decade. Among the 50-to-64-year-olds age group – the oldest in the survey:
• 76.5 percent have held one of their current credit cards for five years or more
• 60.9 percent have had one for at least 10 years
However, just because these cards are still in wallets, does not mean they are still getting used, as roughly half of the survey respondents said that they no longer use their oldest credit card. The cards that are being used are newer cards:
• 35.2 percent of survey respondents have added a new card within the past year
• 55.6 percent have added one within the past two years
This trend of hanging on to old cards while signing up for new ones leads to an accumulation of credit cards, and as consumers get older, they are more likely to have four or more cards in their wallet:
• 9.3 percent of survey respondents in the 18-to-29 age group have four or more credit cards
• 21.3 percent of those 30-to-39 have four or more credit cards
• 31.8 percent of those 50-to-64 have four or more credit cards
So why are consumers signing up for so many new cards? The most common response was a cash-back rewards offer, as 28.3 percent said this was why they signed up. The second most popular reason was a lower interest rate, cited by 21.6 percent of respondents as the primary motivation for their most recent credit card.
Both loyalty and reasons behind signing up for a new card tend to vary somewhat by gender. 45.0 percent of women surveyed have owned one of their current credit cards for at least 10 years, compared with just 29.7 percent of men. Also, men are more likely than women to have added a card within the past two years, by 59.3 percent to 52.0 percent. However, both men and women are split pretty evenly on whether or not they actually still use their oldest credit card.
When it comes to the incentive to sign up for a new card, women are more likely to be drawn to cards with non-financial benefits such as concierge services, with 22.0 percent of women citing that as the reason behind their most recent credit card, while that was the primary reason for just 17.7 percent of men. Men tend to go for the cards with sign up bonuses, as 15.3 percent of men said that was why they signed up for a new card, compared to just 10.3 percent of women.
The full results of the survey can be found here: http://www.cardratings.com/how-loyal-are-credit-card-holders.html
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Alex Bryant, CardRatings.com, http://www.cardratings.com, +1 (650) 703-5214, [email protected]
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