Why 62% of GCC loyalty points go unredeemed — and what it costs your bank

Across the GCC, a striking share of loyalty currency simply never gets used. Industry estimates put unredeemed points as high as 62% in some programmes.

The redemption gap

The root cause is friction. When redemption means leaving the banking app for a dated, separate portal, customers disengage. 87% of bank-app sessions are transactional only.

Customers don’t think about points. They think about what points buy them.

Embedded redemption changes the maths

When redemption is native, engagement rises 3–5× versus a redirected portal.