Redeeming rewards is easy with BBVA Wallet
Part of the lure of a good credit card rewards program is the possibility of significant bonuses for the money you spend. So, why do so many points go unredeemed?
According to Payments Program Manager Tarik Camurdes, it’s partially as a result of perceived difficulty in redeeming rewards.
“I think there are a few reasons people don’t take advantage of the points they’ve earned, but certainly one of them is that redeeming points is not always intuitive,” he said. “Sometimes the rewards websites are separate from the credit card site or the user may not know how many points they have to redeem.”
At BBVA Compass, the new BBVA Compass Rewards Card was built with easy rewards redemption in mind. The card, which offers a 1.5 percent reward for every $1 spent on every purchase across all categories with no cap on earnings and the ability to garner 2 percent in rewards with a qualifying bank relationship, works with the bank’s proprietary BBVA Wallet so customers can get instant reward redemption - even at the point of sale.
Here’s how it works: To redeem rewards points instantly, BBVA Compass Rewards Card - or BBVA Compass ClearPoints - customers simply download the BBVA Wallet from either the iTunes App Store or Google Play. When setting up the app, customers should turn on notifications. Each time the customer makes a purchase, a real-time notification is instantly sent detailing the date, merchant, purchase amount and accrued rewards points customer has to redeem. The real-time notification also includes a button that takes customers to a redemption page where accrued points can be redeemed instantly up to the purchase amount, a move that credits the customer's statement for the amount redeemed.
Camurdes said that the ability to instantly redeem points with BBVA Wallet gives customers the best user experience and is the most transparent. “It’s what is best for customers, so it’s what is best for us,” he said.
Camurdes also specified that while the credit cards are built to work with the BBVA Wallet for points redemption, customers can also access their points through the rewards website in other ways. For Clearpoints, customers can access the rewards website directly, while for the Rewards Card, customers are able to access through online banking. Through the rewards website, customers have the option to redeem a portion of their accrued points, or all of them.
Camurdes: We want to make the rewards experience easy and convenient, so giving the customers options for point redemption is important
“We want to make the rewards experience easy and convenient, so giving the customers options for point redemption is important,” Camurdes said. “After all, they’ve earned the points so it should be easy for them to enjoy in the way they see fit.”
For more on the BBVA Compass Rewards Card, click here.
Example: Points Redemption in Action
The big game is this weekend, and to be sure you’re watching it in style, you decide to head to your local electronics store and purchase a new, top-of-the-line flat screen television using your BBVA Compass Rewards Card. When the purchase is made, your rewards account is credited $15. A few days later, you head back to the electronics store to purchase a mount to hang the television. When you make the purchase with the Rewards Card, a notification is sent to you that includes the purchase amount and rewards points total. You click on ‘redeem rewards’ and instantly credit your account up to the purchase amount.