I Almost Lost 500 Yuan in Credit Card Points Today—Here's Why You Should Check Now

I almost lost 500 yuan today.

Here’s what happened: I randomly opened my bank’s app this afternoon and found 280,000 points sitting in my account. Then I noticed—expiring at the end of this month.

My heart nearly stopped. 280,000 points, at this bank’s rate, converts to 500 yuan in mobile credit. I spend about 100 yuan per month on phone bills, so that’s basically half a year of free service.

If I hadn’t opened that app today, those 280,000 points would have evaporated.

How credit card point expiration works

Not all banks expire points, but watch out for these patterns:

First: calendar year expiration. Some banks wipe points on December 31st each year. If you don’t check, you genuinely forget.

Second: account anniversary expiration. Some banks calculate from your account opening date—so if you opened your card in June 2023, points expire in June every year. This timing is easy to miss.

Third: permanent points. Some banks’ points never expire, which is obviously better—but check if there are annual redemption caps or other restrictions.

How I almost missed mine

Most bank apps have a “points expiring soon” notification feature. They send alerts 7, 14, and 30 days before expiration.

But I had these notifications turned off. When my points were small, they didn’t seem worth tracking, so I just silenced them. The habit stuck around even as my points accumulated.

Today I only found out because I happened to remember to open the app.

So my first recommendation: turn on bank app notifications, especially for points expiration alerts.

What’s the best way to redeem points?

Not all point redemptions are equal value. The same 10,000 points might be worth 10 yuan at one bank and 50 yuan at another.

What you redeem for matters too. My ranking:

Mobile credit > gas cards > e-commerce vouchers > physical gifts

Mobile credit is most practical—direct cash reduction, no strings attached. Gas cards are solid too. Physical gifts usually have minimum redemption thresholds and the available options are often underwhelming.

One thing to watch: when redeeming mobile credit, check whether it’s “credit applied directly” or “discount coupon.” Some banks give you a partial-off coupon rather than direct reduction—the value is significantly different.

My damage control today

This afternoon I went through every bank app I have. Two banks had points expiring this month—one was the 280,000 I almost lost, plus another bank with 80,000 points.

280,000 points → 500 yuan mobile credit
80,000 points → 120 yuan mobile credit coupon

Total: 620 yuan. That’s two months of phone bills.

If you have credit cards, I’d suggest opening your apps right now and checking. You might find some “unexpected money” waiting for you.

That said, don’t buy stuff just to burn points. Points are nice, but spending beyond your needs to use them up defeats the purpose.