Ready or not, here it comes. The holiday season is just about here. A lot of retailers are already decorated and getting started on early sales. We always feel a little guilty about discussing Christmas before Thanksgiving but we feel a duty to help our customers prepare for this very expensive season before it arrives. After all, if you wait until December to save money and plan for Christmas, it will be too late.

Today we’re talking about how our Rewards customers can leverage more points during the holiday season. Our customers who are earning UChoose® Rewards Points with their Platinum Visa® card or Rewards Checking can earn points redeemable for gift cards, cash back and items each time they swipe these cards.

Platinum Visa customers will earn one point for every dollar they spend while Rewards Checking customers will earn one point for every three dollars when they swipe their card. Since Christmas is such an expensive time of the year, this is a great time to watch those rewards points add up.

Think about all the money you spend during the holidays. Most folks spend far more than they think when they add up all the extra things they do and buy between Thanksgiving and New Years. All that money you spend on making the holiday merry and bright could add up to something nice for you after the holiday!

Our friends at Nerd Wallet did extensive research last year and determined the average cost of Christmas spending per American city. In Columbus, the average family of four was expected to spend an average of $842.76. That’s for presents, food, holiday cards, decorations – the whole Christmas shebang. Click here to read the whole study.

Contact your local office to apply for a VCNB Platinum Visa card.* Also, if you are interested in opening a new Rewards Checking account or converting an existing checking account to this type of account, you can open in-office or online. At this time, we are even offering a promotion that offers bonus points to get you started. Learn more here.

*Credit restrictions apply.