We’ve all seen the commercials.  The subject is loyalty rewards on credit cards and whether it’s some Viking horde, Alec Baldwin or Samuel L. Jackson, the question is being asked.--What’s in your wallet?The answer is Capitol One and a new study by CardHub, which examined the fine print of rewards credit card offers from the 10 largest issuers, would seem to indicate that is the right answer.

Roughly $48 billion in loyalty rewards are dispensed each year, yet one-third of that amount is never redeemed. Why? Rewards limitations and expiration dates play a major role, according to a recent CardHub report.

A few of CardHub’s main findings are:

  • Capital One cards have the fewest reward limitations, with all of them receiving an overall Rewards Friendliness Score of 96.43%.
  • The Discover It Card has the most rewards limitations, earning the lowest overall score in the study (35.71%).
  • Rewards expiring after a missed payment and requirements that consumers meet a minimum threshold before rewards could be redeemed were the most common limitations found amongst all reward cards, accounting for 90% and 79% respectively.
  • Barclaycard, Capital One and Wells Fargo received the highest scores (100%) in the Rewards Earning category, while Discover received the lowest score (16.67%).
  • Capital One received the highest score (100%) in the Rewards Redemption category, while Discover received the lowest score (60%).
  • Bank of America received the highest score (100%) in the Rewards Expiration category, while Citibank, Barclaycard, and Discover tied for the lowest score in this category (33.33%).

For the full 2014 Credit Card Rewards Study, check out: http://www.cardhub.com/edu/credit-card-rewards-study/

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