More than a quarter of loyalty points collected by UK shoppers go unspent, with an estimated £3 billion a year in lost savings quietly handed back to retailers, at a time when the cost of living remains the number one concern for households across the country. In a recent YouGov survey, 54 per cent of Britons said the cost of living was their biggest public worry. Yet despite this pressure, millions of shoppers are effectively throwing money away by letting rewards lapse, says the new research, completed by customer loyalty tech provider Antavo. Nearly half of shoppers say it takes too long to earn rewards worth using, while more than four in ten are frustrated by points expiring before they can cash them in. The result is a growing mountain of unused points that look like savings but behave more like a hidden tax on busy consumers.

Source: The Times February 03, 2026 20:14 UTC