A recent study of a real-world loyalty program found that growth did not come from “rewarding your best members more.” It came from steadily changing the behavior of light and moderate members who increased how often they bought, how much they spent, and how loyal they became over time.

For credit union and community bank leaders, the takeaway is straightforward. Loyalty should be judged on whether it moves the middle of your member base, not on how many members enroll or how many points are redeemed. The research shows that heavy users enjoy the program but largely maintain existing patterns, while lighter users, when given attainable rewards tied to everyday activity, almost double their purchase frequency and meaningfully increase transaction size over time. That is the pattern you want in your portfolio: a larger share of revenue coming from previously underperforming members, with loyalty acting as a long-term mechanism to accelerate them toward primary-institution behavior.

Executives should stop asking how big the loyalty program is and start asking which member segments changed behavior and what that is worth to the institution.

Read Full Analysis of Long-Term Loyalty Profitability – PDF

Joni Ekovich, Chief Marketing Officer
jonie@points4purpose.com
Points4Purpose