Marketing agency International Consumer Loyalty Programmes revealed that there are 27m loyalty cards in Britain with each household owning at least two.
Many people are said to have more "money" invested in their reward cards than they do in the bank with 18% owning more than nine cards and 7% having more than 20 in their wallets.
The ICLP said that many people are not claiming their rewards because consumers are more interested in getting a free gift.
Tony Clarke, a director of ICLP, said: "The consumer often prefers rewards to discount because the perceived value of the reward usually far exceeds the discount that would be offered. If the money was in the bank they were more likely to spend it."
The study revealed that out of the people who do redeem their points, 23% of people use them for weekends away and 33% swap their points for luxury goods such as camcorders or DVD players, while some simply forget that they have accrued the points.
Around the world there is a massive £500bn held on loyalty cards by consumers.
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