Credit card rewards are more than a travel perk. For hardworking families across Pennsylvania, they are part of how households manage the budget.
As retailers project another expensive back-to-school shopping season, new analysis from the Electronic Payments Coalition shows Pennsylvania consumers redeem rewards as cash back to help manage everyday expenses, with redemption rising in July and August as families make back-to-school purchases.
Recently released research from the Electronic Payments Coalition shows Pennsylvania households redeemed $2.44 billion in credit card rewards in 2024 — including $317 million redeemed by households earning under $65,100. Cash back made up $1.11 billion of that statewide total, more than any other reward type.
“Cash-back rewards matter to working families and help offset the high financial costs of sending kids to school, helping pay for clothes, backpacks and computers,” said Richard Hunt, Executive Chairman of the Electronic Payments Coalition. “Unfortunately, there are politicians in Washington who want to change the way credit cards work and eliminate this important financial tool.”
According to the National Retail Federation, families with K-12 students are expected to spend an average of $146 on school supplies this year, with total back-to-school spending projected to increase nearly 10 percent over last year. Those higher costs come as some of the nation’s largest retailers continue reporting strong revenue growth and commanding trillion-dollar market valuations.
Working families in Pennsylvania redeemed an average of $305 in credit card rewards in 2024 – roughly 2.1 times what a family spends on school supplies for the year, or about 2.6 weeks of groceries.
Rewards provide meaningful financial value across the income spectrum. Working families redeem rewards at virtually the same rate as higher-income households. Expressed as a share of income, the boost from rewards is three to four times larger for working families than for the highest earners.
