Loyalty Program Statistics for 2026: What US Data Shows

Loyalty program statistics are survey, government and academic figures on how many consumers join loyalty programs, how membership affects spending and retention, and what members value. Most come from self-reported surveys, often by firms that sell loyalty services, so read each figure with its source, date and sample.

This page collects the figures that could be traced to a primary source, grouped by the questions marketers ask most: how many people belong to programs, whether programs change spending, what members value, how personalization, trust and data affect loyalty, whether paid programs work, how much value goes unused and what executives report. A summary table and a guide to reading these numbers follow.

Key Takeaways

How many Americans belong to loyalty programs?

Most Americans belong to at least one loyalty program and the average consumer holds many memberships, but fewer than half of Americans told Bond in 2025 they are very satisfied.

• 8 in 10 Americans are members of at least one loyalty program (LendingTree, online survey of 2,082 US consumers, June 2022) (LendingTree).
• 17.4 programs per consumer on average, in Bond's 2025 report, which gives US and Canadian results (the release does not state the sample for this figure) (Bond).
• 48% of Americans said they are "very satisfied" with their loyalty programs (Bond, 2025).
• Hundreds of millions of US consumers are enrolled in loyalty programs at large merchants, and "almost 74 million" of them also earn rewards at those companies through co-branded credit cards (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 2023) (CFPB).

The gap between membership and satisfaction matters more than the membership count. With 17 or more memberships competing for attention, the useful question for a brand is whether its program is one its members actually use and value.

Do loyalty programs increase customer spending and retention?

Members say programs keep them buying and spending, and peer-reviewed research finds sales and profit gains after launch, but the effect is uneven across customers.

• 85% of members said they are more likely to continue doing business with a brand if it has a loyalty program, and 73% said they spend more as a result (Bond 2026, 20,591 US loyalty program members surveyed January to March 2026) (Bond). Bond surveyed members only and sells loyalty services.
• 72% of members said they shop more at companies with loyalty programs, but only 52% said they spend more because of them (LendingTree, 2022).
• In a study of 322 publicly traded firms that introduced a loyalty program between 2000 and 2015, launching a program increased sales and gross profits on average within the first year, with effects sustained for at least three years, though the effect on gross profits took until the second quarter after launch to become significant (Chaudhuri, Voorhees and Beck, *Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science*, 2019) (Springer).
• In a study of a convenience store franchise's program, heavy buyers claimed their rewards but did not change their behavior, while customers who started as light or moderate buyers "gradually purchased more and became more loyal to the firm" (Liu, *Journal of Marketing*, 2007) (SAGE).
• An older counterview argued that, given their popularity, programs are "surprisingly ineffective" and that most "do not fundamentally alter market structure" (Dowling and Uncles, *MIT Sloan Management Review*, 1997) (MIT Sloan Management Review).
• Harvard Business Review reported in 2014, citing Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company, that "increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%" (Harvard Business Review). The figure concerns customer retention in general rather than loyalty programs, and the article gives no sample, so treat it as a widely repeated estimate rather than a benchmark.

The academic findings are the strongest evidence here because they measure behavior rather than stated intent, though they have limits: the 322-firm study covers large public companies that chose to launch a program, and Liu's study covers a single convenience store franchise. They also carry a warning: rewards paid to customers who would have bought anyway are a cost, not a gain, which is why the loyalty program ROI calculation framework measures incremental behavior against a control group.

What do loyalty program members value most?

Members value rewards that are worth having, simple to use and flexible to earn and redeem, and many will leave a program whose rewards do not justify the effort.

• 86% rated financial rewards, and simplicity and ease of use, as "important" or "very important," the top program attributes in Deloitte's 2024 survey of more than 9,800 consumers in the US, UK, India and Brazil (Deloitte).
• Four out of five consumers value flexibility when earning and redeeming rewards (Deloitte, 2024).
• Three quarters of Gen Z and millennial consumers said a high-quality digital experience is essential for loyalty programs (Deloitte, 2024).
• 52% of US loyalty program members said they would leave a program if the rewards were not worth it (LendingTree, 2022).

The design implication is plain: a reward customers can reach and use, through a program that is easy to join and track, does more than a long list of benefits few members understand.

How do personalization and data affect loyalty?

Consumers expect personalization and say it makes them more likely to buy again, but they share data only when the exchange feels worth it and handled with care.

• 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, and 76% get frustrated when this does not happen (McKinsey, 2021) (McKinsey).
• 78% said personalized communications made them more likely to repurchase (McKinsey, 2021).
• Only 60% of consumers were satisfied with the customized and targeted experiences programs currently offer (Deloitte, 2024).
• 53% of US consumers said sharing personal information is worth it if it makes their experience with a brand smoother, but 93% said a brand that mishandles their data will lose their trust (PwC, survey of 5,511 US consumers, May to June 2025) (PwC).
• 41% of members said a data breach would cause them to end their membership, fewer than the 52% who would leave over rewards that were not worth it (LendingTree, 2022).

The McKinsey pages do not state their sample, so treat those figures as directional. The PwC figures are the more recent US data point: customers will trade data for a smoother experience, but trust is lost quickly if that data is mishandled.

How do trust and customer experience affect loyalty?

Trust and experience sit underneath loyalty: consumers rank trust close to price and quality, and many stop buying after a bad experience.

• 88% of consumers said trust is an important consideration when buying a brand, just behind value for money (91%) and quality (89%) (Edelman, 2023, nearly 14,000 consumers in 14 countries including the US) (Edelman).
• When consumers trust a brand, 59% said they are more likely to buy its new products and/or buy it "even if not as cheap as a competitor" (Edelman, 2023).
• 52% of US consumers said they stopped using or buying from a brand after a bad experience with its products or services, and 29% stopped because of poor customer experience (PwC, 2025).
• 86% said human interaction is moderately or very important in their brand experience, and 58% are only somewhat or not at all comfortable using AI tools to engage with brands (PwC, 2025).

No loyalty program makes up for a product or service customers do not trust; the post on building brand trust covers what builds and breaks it.

Are paid loyalty programs more effective than free ones?

McKinsey's 2020 survey linked paid membership to a bigger reported spending lift than free membership, though payers may already be keener buyers, and paid programs must prove their value quickly.

• 63% of consumers were already members of at least one paid loyalty program (McKinsey, 2020) (McKinsey).
• Members of paid programs were 60% more likely to spend more on the brand after subscribing, against 30% for free programs (McKinsey, 2020).
• Consumers expect at least a 150% return on their subscription fee, and 50% of cancellations occur within the first year of membership (McKinsey, 2020).

The article does not state the survey's sample, and members who choose to pay are likely to be keener buyers to begin with, so the 60% figure shows association, not proof that a fee causes higher spending. The first-year cancellation figure is the practical warning: paid members judge value quickly.

How much loyalty value goes unused?

Earned rewards build up faster than they are spent: US credit card rewards balances topped $33 billion at the end of 2022, up 40% since late 2019, CFPB data shows.

• Rewards earned by general purpose cardholders exceeded $40 billion for mass market issuers in 2022 (CFPB, 2023).
• Total rewards balances were more than $33 billion at the end of 2022, up 40% from the fourth quarter of 2019 (CFPB, 2023).
• Each quarter, about 4% of accounts forfeit some previously earned rewards, about $500 million a year (CFPB, 2023).
• Nearly 70% of rewards credit cardholders are sitting on unused cash back, points or miles, and 31% of those with unused cash back have $100 or more (LendingTree, survey of 1,293 US cardholders, July 2022) (LendingTree).
• Consumer complaints to the CFPB about card rewards fall into four recurring themes, which the CFPB lists as unexpected promotional conditions, devaluation, redemption problems and revocation (CFPB, 2024) (CFPB).

These are credit card figures, not retail or restaurant programs, and no comparable public data exists for retail programs. They still show a risk any points program faces: unredeemed value builds up, and devaluations and redemption barriers drive complaints. For brands, unredeemed points can be both an accounting liability and a sign that members may not see the rewards as reachable; the guide to point breakage explains how to manage it.

What do executives say about their loyalty programs?

Executives believe loyalty matters but many doubt their programs: in PwC's 2025 US survey, 57% said their loyalty systems are not delivering the outcomes they need.

• 57% of US executives said their loyalty systems are not delivering the outcomes they need, and 46% said their current program will be irrelevant in three years (PwC, 2025, 406 US executives).
• About 9 in 10 executives said customer loyalty has grown in recent years, but only 4 in 10 consumers said the same (PwC, 2025).
• Gartner's 2024 CMO Spend Survey found CMOs focusing "on customer acquisition over retention as loyalty programs slip down their investment priorities" (Gartner).

The gap between how executives and consumers see loyalty is a useful warning for program managers: if most executives believe loyalty has grown while most consumers do not, leadership may be overestimating what its loyalty efforts, the program included, are achieving. Primary statistics on B2B loyalty programs are scarce; the post on statistics that show the benefit of B2B loyalty programs covers the B2B side.

What do these statistics mean for program design?

Taken together, the data points to programs with reachable rewards, a simple digital experience backed by people, a fair data exchange, clear notice of changes and measurement of incremental behavior.

• Make the first reward reachable. Members rate rewards and ease of use highest, and half say they would leave over rewards that are not worth it. A first reward that takes months to earn is likely to give new members little reason to stay.
• Design for light and moderate buyers. One peer-reviewed study of a convenience store program found these customers changed behavior most, while heavy buyers claimed rewards without changing what they bought. Earning rules, bonuses and early rewards should be built with them in mind.
• Make the data exchange explicit. Customers will share data for a better experience but lose trust when it is mishandled, so say what is collected and why, ask for consent and use the data in ways members can see.
• Build digital, keep people available. Younger members expect a good digital experience, while most consumers still value human interaction and many are uneasy with AI tools. A program app or account page should handle routine tasks, with service staff able to see a member's history when something goes wrong.
• Give notice before changing the program. Devaluation and redemption problems are recurring complaint themes in the CFPB's card rewards data. Announcing changes ahead of time, honoring points already earned under the old terms where possible and keeping redemption simple reduces that risk. Under US revenue accounting rules (ASC 606), points that give customers a material right are generally recorded as a contract liability until they are redeemed or expire, so finance teams need to track them (Deloitte DART).
• Measure what the program changes. Compare members with a similar holdout group, track incremental purchases rather than total member sales, and review the results with finance, so the program is judged on the behavior it causes.

Loyalty program statistics at a glance

How should you read loyalty program statistics?

Read loyalty statistics as signals, not proof: check who was surveyed, who published the research, whether it measures behavior or stated intent, and whether it fits your category.

• Where these figures come from. Each figure was checked on its publisher's own page, report or government filing rather than on a statistics roundup; the Bain retention figure is as reported by Harvard Business Review. Samples are given where the publisher states one.
• Stated intent is not behavior. Most figures above are what people say they do or would do. LendingTree's own data shows the gap: 72% say they shop more, but only 52% say they spend more.
• Members are not a random sample. Customers who join a program are often already more engaged, so comparing members with non-members can overstate what the program caused. Surveys of members also leave out the customers who avoid programs altogether, and their views are rarely measured.
• Many publishers sell loyalty or marketing services. Bond, Deloitte, McKinsey, PwC and Edelman all earn revenue from the topics they research, and LendingTree runs a lending and credit card marketplace. Their findings are still useful, but read them as industry research rather than independent audits.
• Scope varies. Some figures are US only, some cover several countries, and the unused-rewards data covers credit cards rather than retail programs.
• Averages hide categories where programs struggle. Most figures come from frequent-purchase consumer categories. Infrequent or one-off purchases, low-margin categories where rewards eat into profit, small businesses without the data for a holdout test and B2B buying groups may see very different results, so test before assuming these averages apply.
• Older figures age quickly. Consumer expectations about digital programs and data have shifted since 2020, so prefer the most recent data where it exists.

The most reliable statistic for any brand is its own: compare members with a similar holdout group, track incremental purchases and redemption, and measure whether the program changes behavior rather than rewarding what customers would have done anyway.

Conclusion

The data supports loyalty programs, with conditions. Most Americans belong to programs, most members say programs keep them buying, and peer-reviewed research links program launches to higher sales and profits. The same data shows the limits: members hold many programs and fewer than half of Americans are very satisfied with them, many would leave over rewards that are not worth it, card rewards balances keep growing, and more than half of US executives in PwC's survey said their loyalty systems are not delivering the outcomes they need. Programs that offer reachable rewards, simple experiences and fair use of data are the ones these numbers favor. Which of these statistics would your own program data confirm?

Sources

• Bond Brand Loyalty, The Bond Loyalty Report 2026 (press release, June 3, 2026)
• Bond Brand Loyalty, The Bond Loyalty Report 2025 (press release, August 1, 2025)
• LendingTree, loyalty programs survey (July 11, 2022)
• LendingTree, unused credit card rewards study (2022, updated 2025)
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, The Consumer Credit Card Market (October 2023)
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Issue Spotlight: Credit Card Rewards (May 2024)
• Chaudhuri, Voorhees and Beck, "The effects of loyalty program introduction and design on short- and long-term sales and gross profits," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (2019)
• Dowling and Uncles, "Do Customer Loyalty Programs Really Work?" MIT Sloan Management Review (July 1997)
• Liu, "The Long-Term Impact of Loyalty Programs on Consumer Purchase Behavior and Loyalty," Journal of Marketing (2007)
• Harvard Business Review, "The Value of Keeping the Right Customers" (October 2014)
• Deloitte, 2024 consumer loyalty survey
• Deloitte DART, ASC 606 Roadmap 11.2, reproducing FASB ASC 606-10-55-353 to 55-356 (customer loyalty program example)
• McKinsey & Company, "The value of getting personalization right, or wrong, is multiplying" (November 2021)
• McKinsey & Company, "Coping with the big switch: How paid loyalty programs can help bring consumers back to your brand" (October 2020)
• PwC, 2025 Customer Experience Survey
• Richard Edelman, "Trust and Brands: The Collapse of the Purchase Funnel," Edelman, June 18, 2023
• Gartner, "The Profitable Loyalty Program Equation" (June 2024)