Rewards are one of the most compelling reasons for someone to open a credit card and use it.
→ 65% of Americans open a new credit card specifically for the rewards (PYMNTS).
→ 70% prefer paying by credit or debit so that they can earn points (IPSOS).
→ 81% of shoppers make choices based on rewards (PayPal & Reach3).
It’s no wonder that most FIs, fintechs, and neobanks have rewards these days. What they don’t realize is that offering rewards isn’t enough — they need to publicize them. Otherwise, people forget.
In a CreditCards.com poll, almost a quarter (23%) of rewards cardholders said they hadn’t redeemed any rewards over the past year.
Without rewards as a motivator, cardholders have less and less of a reason to use your card. Unless you’re providing other undeniable perks. But those perks — travel benefits, premium insurance, status tiers — are expensive and operationally heavy. Promoting the rewards you already have is significantly cheaper and significantly faster, and, thankfully, visibility is a relatively straightforward fix.
Here’s where to focus your energy.
Get Your Rewards Where People Can See Them
Your rewards program needs a permanent home, on your website and in your app. Why? Because:
- Talking about rewards where your brand is most visible attracts prospective customers shopping around for a card (see stats above), and
- It keeps your rewards top of mind. Every time an existing customer checks their balance, for example, they’re reminded that there’s cash back waiting for them.
There are three main places to think about promoting your rewards:
1. Your Homepage
On your homepage is a given. And rewards should be part of the headline, not an afterthought.
What works:
- A hero image or mockup showing actual offers in-app. Bonus points for displaying popular merchant logos and cash back percentages or dollar amounts in the screenshot.
- Specific brand names cardholders recognize.
- A number that signals scale. Something like, “cash back at 10,000+ locations.”
What doesn’t:
- Generic copy like “Experience the benefits of our rewards ecosystem.”
- Stock photos of people smiling at phones. People want to see what your rewards actually look like.
- Burying rewards under a bunch of navigation clicks.
Example: Atlas
Atlas dedicates their entire homepage to rewards.
The hero image on its homepage shows its app with cash back offers at stores everyone knows (10% at Walmart, 10% at DoorDash).
Prospective customers instantly understand the quality of rewards they’ll get if they apply.
Right below the image, they make their rewards program explicit: “Cash back partnership with 50,000+ locations.”
And then they list even more well-known logos, like Target, Netflix, and Starbucks, getting people curious about where else they could earn cash back with an Atlas card.
Did you know? Atlas increased average customer value by 163% with Kard rewards. Read how they did it →
2. A Dedicated Rewards Page
Add a banner or landing page on your website or app that explains how to find offers, how cash back is earned, and when it’s credited.
Example: Acorns
"Earn bonus investments, Cash back invested" is a top-level navigation item on the Acorns website so it’s instantly visible to prospective and current cardholders.
On the Earn page, the headline reads: "Automatically earn bonus investments when you buy what you need from brands you love," making it abundantly clear how the rewards work and the value they have to cardholders.
The header also displays a screenshot of how the offers look in the app, with a Nike cash back offer featured prominently at the top and “For you” and “Everyday essentials” offers listed right below it, again reinforcing the value of these offers.
3. Your App
If cardholders have to search for offers, most of them won’t.
Make your rewards section one tap from login, not buried three menus deep. An easy way to get people to tap is to link to rewards from the home screen or card dashboard.
A few other in-app surfaces worth taking advantage of:
- A persistent home-screen tile or card that always shows the current featured offer.
- Dismissible banners at the top of the dashboard during launch or seasonal pushes.
- One-time pop-ups after login to introduce new offers (used sparingly).
Make a Big Splash When You Announce the Program
Your launch needs to be loud and coordinated across more than one channel. But to start, send:
A Welcome Email
Send a dedicated email to your full cardholder list introducing the program. But make sure to lead with value, not features:
- Answer “what’s in it for me?” in the subject line to boost your open rate.
- Then, include two or three specific merchants and percentages in the body so the offer feels concrete.
- Give it one clear CTA, linking directly to the rewards page or offers section of your app.
A Welcome Push Notification or Banner
Follow up with a short, celebratory push to app users letting them know offers are live. Link directly to the rewards section so they can browse (and hopefully use!) your offers.
Alternatively, you could have a banner display as soon as they open the app, like this:
Take Advantage of Social Media, Too
A short series of posts — some announcing the program, more highlighting a featured offer, another couple showing the in-app experience — gives the launch legs beyond your owned channels.
It also gives prospective customers a low-friction way to discover your rewards.
Someone who'd never sign up for your email list might still scroll past a LinkedIn or Instagram post showing 10% back at brands they recognize, and that may be enough to send them to your homepage (where they’ll learn more about your rewards program).
Keep the Momentum Going
A single email on launch day isn’t going to cut it.
Across all industries, the average email open rate hovers around 21% to 23%. That means just 1 in 5 recipients opens a single email sent to them. To capture their attention (and keep it), your launch and ongoing rewards campaigns need to be a full-blown sequence — email, push notifications, newsletters, and social.
A welcome email, social posts, and push notifications will get your program on people’s radar, but you’ll want a few ongoing nudges in rotation to keep people engaged. Things like:
Monthly Offer Roundups
Send a monthly email featuring three to four high-value offers with recognizable logos and a clear CTA. It’s an easy way to stay top of mind. Highlighting new or high-value offers often gets users thinking, “Oh, I didn’t know I could get cash back on this!”
To make sure people see the offers inside of this monthly roundup, make sure to prioritize your headline. Use action verbs, test out emojis, and add urgency with expiration dates.
Some flavors of subject lines that work include:
- “Your latest cash back offers are here 👀”
- “This month’s top deals: Walmart, Domino’s & more”
- “Earn before they expire: New offers waiting for you”
Here are two good examples:
Note: One of our partners noted that monthly roundup emails consistently drive spikes in redemption and impressions.
Newsletter Features
If you already send a regular cardholder newsletter, try adding a rewards section. Feature two or three current offers, again with recognizable logos and expiration dates.
This may feel repetitive, but it can catch cardholders who missed other emails and keeps reminding cardholders that offers exist.
Single-Offer Spotlights
If you’ve got some high-recognition brands in your network, send an email about one cash back offer. Tie it to a seasonal moment, so (1) it makes sense why you’re promoting it now, and (2) is extremely relevant to cardholders.
Here are two good examples:
Example: Majority
Majority experimented with single offer emails during tax season, partnering with TurboTax to offer $5 cash back when cardholders filed their federal or state taxes:
This one email hit a 96.1% delivery rate and 27.7% open rate — with only a 0.07% bounce rate, showing just how impactful a targeted email can be.
Category Highlight
Like your roundup, but just focused on a specific category.
We recommend leading with a high-frequency one like gas, dining, or grocery because it might spur some redemptions right away. At the very least, it will drive cardholders to your full offers page.
Redemption Notifications
The single highest-engagement moment is when cardholders earn cash back. So make it count!
Here’s what we’ve seen work:
- Sending a push notification immediately after a qualifying transaction.
- Keep it short and celebratory to reinforce the connection between card usage and reward.
- Link back to the rewards page so they’re prompted to take a look at other offers available to them.
Some examples:
“You just earned $3 cash back! Tap to check out more offers.”
“Cha-ching! Your [INSERT BRAND NAME] reward is on the way.”
Note: We’ve seen push notifications work best with our partners when it comes to conversions. But it’s still important to use other channels, like email and social media, to meet cardholders where they are.
Be the Card People Reach For
Rewards are something people value. But people won’t know about your great rewards unless you tell them (and keep reminding them).
Distribution partners like BM Technologies, Vervent, Grit, and Narmi all trust Kard to power rewards programs their cardholders actually use and come back for.
Want to join them? Talk to our team →
