With the new year I was expecting my cashback bonuses from last year to be automatically applied into my credit card statement as that is how it is usually done. But in checking my statements this year it seemed to indicate I had a balance where it was just sitting there waiting to be redeemed. Upon further investigation it seemed like the bank changed it where you now have the option to transfer these funds into various accounts. For example, instead of crediting your monthly bill you could transfer it into your savings account instead.
I guess that can be beneficial for many people. Although, I do wonder how many people will actually overlook the fact that you need to redeem it now to the point where maybe banks can hold on to funds much longer this way. I personally always just treated these cashback rewards as a bonus for using the credit card responsibly and it usually just helps pay off immediate future expenses. It makes no difference in that case if I placed it into a savings account just to then pay the bill.
That does make me wonder if there was a legal reason o do this or again possibly as a way to slow down payment transactions where if say half the customer base never claimed their cashback credit that’s a lot of funds the bank has to work with in the meantime. Either way, pay attention to this little detail if your credit opted for the same route.