With UPI, credit cards and debit cards now widely used for routine expenses, reward points are linked to essential, low-value transactions rather than limited to discretionary or high-ticket spending.
Everyday payments that often earn reward points
- Utility bill payments: Electricity, mobile, broadband and DTH payments made through apps or bank platforms
- Fuel payments: Card and UPI-based transactions at petrol and diesel stations
- Grocery and pharmacy purchases: Regular spending on daily essentials
- Transit and toll payments: FASTag tolls, metro cards and digital transport payments
- UPI and card transactions: Small-value digital payments linked to bank or network reward programmes
Koshal said that while banks, card networks and brand loyalty programmes reward everyday spending behaviour, points often accrue in small amounts across multiple issuers.
“Because reward balances are fragmented, consumers tend to lose track of them or allow them to expire,” he said.
Why these rewards often go unused?
Industry experts point to limited visibility and lack of consolidated tracking as key reasons for underutilisation. Consumers typically earn points across several cards, bank accounts and loyalty programmes, making it difficult to monitor balances or expiry timelines.
Shift towards real-time reward usage
According to Koshal, the payments industry is gradually moving towards enabling point-of-purchase redemption, allowing consumers to use reward points instantly during online or offline transactions instead of accumulating them over long periods.
He added that tools such as expiry alerts and centralised reward tracking can help turn small, unnoticed points into meaningful savings when used consistently.
