A system and method for administration of an incentive award program wherein award points are earned in response to certain actions by the Participants and then credited to the Participant's credit card, but only after a predetermined time delay. Furthermore, the Participant must still be a customer in good standing with the credit card Sponsor at the end of this predetermined delay period in order to receive the awarded points. As used herein, the term "credit card" is intended to encompass traditional credit cards, debit cards, smart cards, etc. which are commonly accepted as payment for purchases in place of cash or bank checks. The system of the present invention therefore creates an incentive for the Participant to purchase the Sponsor's goods and/or services in order to earn award points, and further creates an incentive for the Participant to remain a loyal customer of the Sponsor in order to receive and redeem these award points at some point in the future. Each award point therefore serves a double function as a reward for using the Sponsor's products and/or services and also as an incentive for customer loyalty to the Sponsor.