American Banker Online - February 1, 2007

The Rewards Pendulum
In the ongoing battle for wallet share, offering the right rewards card  to the right customer can make the difference between market winners and  losers. While a broad spectrum of loyalty programs has become an essential  requirement in bankcard sales, greater insight into consumer preference  and behavior is needed to create more intelligently targeted payment  products to effectively compete in today's market.  The latest trends in consumer-payment preferences show a strong upswing  in reward credit cards and a sharp downswing in co-branded credit cards.