Credit Cards Slash Rewards Programs

Head’s up to credit card rewards hounds: credit card companies are cracking down on rewards programs in an effort to save money as they grapple with record delinquency and default rates. If you use a credit card for everyday spending in order to earn miles or cash rewards, pay attention to any mail you receive from your credit card company to make sure they don’t change your rewards program on you.

Citibank announced changes last month to its ThankYou rewards network. Changes including increasing the number of points required to redeem certain rewards and the addition of stipulations that they can suspend or cancel rewards points if your credit card is not current or you do not make a purchase within a certain time frame.

Another big credit card rewards change is for the Chase Freedom credit card. Cardholders used to earn one point for every dollar charged and three points for every dollar charged in the cardholders top three spending categories. Now rewards on the Chase Freedom card have been reduced to one point for every dollar spent. Fortunately for existing Chase Freedom cardholders, this change will only apply to new customers who sign up for the card.

Will your credit card rewards change? Watch your mail to find out.