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Banking and Cards Research

Digging into the Customer Experience: Banking and Credit Cards

Corporate Insight’s Bank Monitor, Credit Card Monitor and Small Business Card Monitor provide ongoing coverage of the products, websites and overall customer experience offered by the nation’s leading banks and card issuers. Our value-added banking and credit card research digs deeply to evaluate the retail and small business customer experience.


Gas and Automotive Cards PDF Print E-mail
With the continuing increase of gas prices, surprisingly few firms offer driving-specific cards. These cards offer users the ability to earn extra rewards on a common, albeit costly, monthly charge. In this Credit Card Monitor Report, we look at which firms offer gas- and automotive-based card products, examining their rewards earnings and redemption options.

In this Card Monitor Report, we look at Gas and Automotive Rewards cards, examining both co-branded and universal cards, to see which card option is the best for potential new clients by comparing card benefits and perks, as well as the rewards earnings offered. As we investigated the various gas and automotive cards offered by each issuer, we focused on the following:
  • Does the program offer points or percentage rebates?
  • Is an introductory APR for purchases offered?
  • Does the rewards program include an introductory earnings offer?
Of the 10 credit card firms tracked by Credit Card Monitor, only six firms are currently offering driving-focused card options, with only one card available from each of these firms. Two of these firms offer co-branded gas cards, while the remaining firms offer either a card co-branded with an automotive company or a more universal driving-based card. Each of these cards offer at least double earnings on purchases from gas stations, with three of the cards actually offering triple the standard earnings for gas purchases.

Of these six main cards, the APR varies greatly from a low of 10.99% to a high of 19.24%. Additionally, five of the six cards currently offer an introductory APR, with one firm offering the best rate for new card holders with a 0% APR for 15 months on both purchases and balance transfers.

In addition to the driving-specific branded cards, six firms are offering more traditional rewards cards with gas-based earnings or redemptions. Among these six firms, a total of 16 cards offer accelerated gas earnings with varying incentives from Cashback to rewards points.

Additional key findings include:
  • Three cards offer accelerated earnings on gas in addition to co-branded earnings at the pump.
  • One firm’s co-branded gas card offers redemptions used for discounts on future gas purchases.
  • The two co-branded gas cards in this report only offer accelerated earnings on gas purchased at the co-branded partner’s location; fuel purchases at other locations do not earn rewards.
 
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