Client Work: Reward Points: The Real Deal

Posted on 06. Oct, 2009 by Jess in charts and graphs, client work, jess bachman

I am trying to get away from the term infographic, so here is a “graphic post” I did for Mint.com

I shop at a few different stores that have these points programs where the more you spend the more points you get which you can redeem for discounts or some crap you really don’t need, like beer cozies. And if you read the fine print on these programs, all is not what it seems. My supermarket has a program where one point is worth .75 cents. So they will advertise “5 times the points” for a can of Campbells soup, which is a dollar. 5 times the points sounds much better than 3 cents off, which is what they are giving me. Anyways, I thought it would be cool to really dive into what these point programs are all about.

Click the image below to see the full graphic.

This graphic is a bit different that my usual style since I wanted to try the wider format. Normally I do stuff that has a set width around 500-600 pixels and is very long, which allows it to fit in a blog post without distorting the layout. The Mint blog can allow for this wider format. I think this format worked out pretty well.

Most infographics out there on the net go for the clean and minimal design. I think people associate data, cahrts and graphs with efficiency in design, at least idealistically. Maintaining a low data to ink ratio, etc. However I am quite fond of the style I have been using for my past few ‘graphic posts’. Textures, paper, ink, wood, shadows and distress. I think when you combine infomation outside of it’s regular design medium, it can be quite interesting.

Another example is here and a slightly ridiculous example is here too.

So if you want to support my work, please go to the Mint blog and digg it, retweet it, and otherwise spread the good word. Oh, and look over the graphic post too, it’s good info (and has shurikens made from asterisks!)

Thanks!

Tags: client work, consumerism, humor, infographic, spead the word

3 Comments

ben, October 6, 2009:

as an employee of a large credit-card processor, I can also give you one more aspect. That is, VS and MC charge merchants an additional interchange fee for rewards cards that would not have been charged if the card did not offer rewards (they tell the merchant that they need to pony up some of this rewards-expense b/c they are getting the benefit of point-hungry customers). This fee is generally between .5% and 1% of the entire transaction. So, 10 years ago when maybe 5% of customers paid w/ a rewards card, to today, when that % may be closer to 50, we can see that VS / MC and the issuing banks of the credit cards are getting a larger chunk of each transaction. So, each time you use your rewards card, your forcing a further crunch on the business, which will inevitably raise the prices we’re all paying down the road.
Jess, October 6, 2009:

@Ben,

Wow you would think that the added puschases would make up for the points doled out for the CC companies. I guess by charging merchants they really are having their cake and eatingn it too. I shouldn’t be so surprised.
Nat, October 16, 2009:

You appear to be missing an ‘L’ in the title graphic for this post…