Personal Finance News

The battle to attract customers is still as intense as ever, even though the UK is still deep in recession. This has made institutions look at how they can win over new customers, and offering rewards seems to be a popular and potentially a good deal for customers too.

Even though you may have a couple of products with your high street bank and been a customer for many years, it's highly unlikely that you receive any preferential treatment for your custom.

The new Nectar Points promotion from Sainsbury's Finance rewards customer loyalty and enables you to boost your points earning potential with the following four products.

• A Sainsbury's Credit card offering 10 months interest free credit on purchases (12 months at Sainsbury's) and 10 months 0% on balance transfers
• An Easy Access savings account with up to five penalty free withdrawals allowed.
• Home Insurance with 20% discount for paying online and no extra charge for paying by monthly instalments
• Competitive Pet Insurance

Focus on Credit Cards with reward benefits
If you spend on a rewards based credit card you'll be rewarded for your loyalty in the form of points that you can use to redeem against meals out, flights, trips or in some cases receive a cash rebate instead.

However be aware that transactions, such as balance transfers, and cash withdrawals generally won't count towards your points. Reward cards are designed to encourage us to spend, and the more you spend the more points you build up.

So how can you pick the card that's right for you? - Well, it depends on your shopping habits, where you tend to shop and the type of reward that appeals to you. So let's take a look at some of the options and how much you can earn - just by using a specific credit card for your day to day shopping and expenses.

Tesco Clubcard Credit Card

How many points do you get?

Shopping at Tesco or Tesco.com you get 5 points for every £4 spent and for shopping elsewhere you receive 1 point for every £4 spent.

So how much could you earn in a year?

So whilst vouchers for £69-00 or £112.50 off your Tesco shopping is great for doing nothing, if you use the vouchers to buy deals from the Tesco deals catalogue, the vouchers are worth 4 times their face value. So how does £276 or £450 worth of hotel accommodation, restaurant meals, flights, holidays or days out grab you? There's a whole load more to spend your vouchers on, check out the link below for more details.

LATEST UPDATE - Tesco are currently running a promotion where Clubcard points are doubled on Tesco in store spend so you'll receive the equivalent of 9 points for every £4 spent, a big chance to rack those points and rewards up even faster.

http://www.tesco.com/clubcard/deals/

John Lewis Partnership Card

How many points do you get?

Shopping at John Lewis or Waitrose (including online) you get 1 point for every £1 spent and for shopping elsewhere you receive 1 point for every £2 spent.

So how much could you earn in a year?

Whilst £80 in rewards isn't going to change the world, it's certainly not to be sniffed at. To put it into perspective, you would only earn £80(net) interest on your savings at 2.5% if you kept a balance of £4,000 in your account for a full 12 months.

So why not take advantage of this 'something for nothing' opportunity and use the vouchers to treat yourself, or perhaps use them as Birthday or Christmas presents for friends or relatives.

Also worth a look:

Amazon.co.uk MasterCard - gives you 1 point for every £1 spent at Amazon.co.uk and 1 reward point for every £2 spent elsewhere. Plus you receive £15 credit when you make your first purchase with the card.

Important information
Cashback and reward credit cards are a fantastic way to get something for nothing as long as you pay your statement balance off in full every month.

If you don't clear your card balance every month the interest charges could more than wipe out any benefit you've accrued in rewards or cashback.

Happy shopping!
Moneynet Credit Card Search

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