For the first time on record, US credit card reward programme members outnumber airline frequent flyers, according to Colloquy's '2009 US Loyalty Marketing Census'.
The census found that membership in US financial services rewards programmes has reached 422.0 million, a 77% increase since the 2007 census, sending financial services past airline frequent flyer programmes as the country's largest market for customer loyalty programmes. In contrast, airline loyalty programmes account for only 277.4 million members.
The census showed that total membership in US loyalty rewards programmes has reached an estimated total of 1.808 billion. Programme memberships ranked by industry were as follows:
