Tech brands dominate Loyalty rankings
Proving the Rule of Six
Of the top 100 product categories and brands in a new ranking of customer loyalty leaders, more than a third (35%) are tech companies engaged in digital technology, social networks and products. In fact, of the top 10 brands, only one is a non-tech firm. Read more ...

Patent claims could cost UK payments industry millions
Patents cover data capture for loyalty, the entire architecture and operating system and are device agnostic
An entrepreneur who filed patents ten years ago covering EPOS with screens has begun action to activate the ownership of this intellectual property. If he is successful, the UK card payments industry could face claims for many millions of pounds. Read more ...

It's not price that keeps us returning to Amazon, it's convenience
John Lewis results sad but not surprising
I bought a stair-gate today. This should have been a fairly easy purchase, but it was made difficult because I hesitated in Aldi last month and missed their offer.  Read more ...

Special report
Restaurant chains moving to an airline loyalty model
Big chains attracted by tiers to encourage spend and boost visits
Profiles of Starbucks, Restaurant Revolution, Wayback Burgers, TGI Fridays, Chick-fil-A
When Starbucks moves, people in loyalty are inclined to look, which is why its announcement during an earnings call that it would be making changes to its loyalty programme caused such a coffee stir. Read more ...

Balance needed between personalisation and privacy
No distinguishing between channels for consumers

A study of 12,000 shoppers worldwide has concluded that shoppers may not actually want the personalised shopping experience most retailers are struggling to provide. Read more ...

Saracens rugby chairman invests in Koin Rewards
Koin Rewards, a blockchain loyalty play targeting the UK market has successfully closed its seed funding round, raising £350,000. Read more ...

Lloyds glitch shows up faults in disaster recovery
Lack of customer communication with social media lethargy hampers response
New report highlights poor communication amongst banks
Can lessons be learnt from other sectors? Read more ...

All Visa Australia cardholders to be offered rewards link-up
Visa following MasterCard in groundbreaking agreement
Visa has announced a partnership  to roll out an instant rewards loyalty scheme including cashback, to all Visa cardholders across Australia. Read more ...

Mobile loyalty and rewards company raises US$20m for a technology leapfrog
A company which claims to be Southeast Asia’s largest mobile loyalty and rewards platform raised over US$20 million in a Series B round. Read more ...

Google in Mastercard deal to access offline spending
Companies insist data is anonymised
Google has apparently bought Mastercard credit card data in the US to help it track users' offline spending in stores. It highlights the issue of consumers choosing to use recent privacy regulation to go “dark” and refuse to share their data. This is an ongoing problem for Google, because its business case is based on its ability to share consumer analytics with advertisers. Read more ...

Book Review
Blockchain Loyalty - disrupting loyalty and reinventing marketing using cryptocurrencies

I remember the first time someone introduced me to Bitcoin and the concept of the blockchain for keeping data secure. It was some time ago now and it seemed crazy, but I have watched while the world fell in love with the idea, which has developed and matured as any precious and capricious child.

Blockchain is now beginning to grow up into a very impressive adult indeed, even outside of currency. Read more ...

Soundbytes from The Loyalty Surgery 2018 – Part One

Insight from Bryan Pearson, LoyaltyOne and Uma Talreja, Raymond Rewards India
Warning: Danger from consumer rights to data portability -
Agreement: Loyalty is going to stay relevant

The ancient walls of the Tower of London provided an atmospheric venue for the 2018 Loyalty Surgery. Surrounded by centuries of turbulent history, it was interesting that we were talking about change, new challenges and loyalty at the crossroads, with plenty of decisions to be made about its future direction. Read more ...

Fast, slick and imaginative -
Chuck Ehredt reviews some of this year's Loyalty Magazine Awards winners and discusses trends 2019

However much you think you know about a topic, some things will still surprise you. That’s been my feeling as I mull over this year’s Loyalty Magazine Awards, where Currency Alliance was proud to be Prime Sponsor. You can see the full list of winners here. Read more ...

Open access: democratising travel loyalty
A three-step plan to creating a broader and more profitable customers base for your travel rewards programme.

Travel schemes must democratise loyalty by considering new and 'low value' members as well as high worth ones, argues Peter Gerstle, head of travel products at global loyalty and benefits company Collinson. Read more ...

Winners announced from a truly global Loyalty Magazine Awards 2018
People travelled from all over the world to attend the special Gala Awards Evening for The Loyalty Magazine Awards, making it a truly global event.

Attendees arrived from South Africa, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, the US, India, The United Emirates, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Russia, The Netherlands, South Africa, Australia, China and many other countries to learn which companies achieved the accolade of being a Loyalty Magazine Awards winner. Read more ...

Loyalty at the crossroads
We know all the buzz phrases: ”The emergence of the digitally native competitor (i.e. Amazon)”, "There are more data than bricks & mortar”, "Omnichannel is being overshadowed by omnipresent”....

What does it all mean?  Discuss these issues with expert speakers at the Loyalty Surgery – www.theLoyaltySurgery.com – in London on June 20.
Read more ...

Will CSR re-invigorate the loyalty industry?
Aware of the trend toward corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Loyalty, a group of industry veterans have established For Good Causes.

The social enterprise aims to provide a service cross the industry for programmes to leverage to improve social impact and tap into the goodwill between charities and their supporters. For Good Causes founder Crispin Rogers describes how. Read more ...

Securing customer loyalty by inviting them into the ‘Membership Economy’
High street retailers face a battle to secure the loyalty of shoppers who are now naturally drawn online. Tailored, digitally-led retention schemes can provide an answer argues Rob Meakin, MD at Loyalty Pro.Ever since the inception of online shopping customers have become accustomed to purchasing what they want, when they want and from whichever retailer. Read more ...

GDPR – Burden or Benefit?
Are companies putting GDPR in place so they can avoid huge potential fines, or will the new regulation help them to do more with personal data by building a personal sense of trust with their customers? 

Mandeep Sandhu, head of compliance at Carbon Black, outlines the GDPR challenges, why we need it, the transition journey, and when organisations will move from meeting its requirements to embracing the potential of GDPR. Read more ...

The Attention Equilibrium: Brands must team up to survive in a world of infinite supply
Blog by Charles (Chuck) Ehredt, CEO and co-founder of Currency Alliance
A deluge of attention, everyone asking you to dance. Read more ...

What’s on your fans’ sporting bucket list?
How experiences are the ultimate reward for sports fans

Blog by sports rewards company Rewards4 Read more ...

What are we going to do about Amazon?
Amazon has created an amazing business model – and made it even better.

It set up an online shopping portal (that incidentally, no-one really expected to work – remember when it was just about books?), made it really simple to buy online, with few questions asked about returns; made sure the delivery is swift, and within the time promised.
Read more ...

AI top of the tech spending list
There is no doubt that retailers are accelerating spending on next-gen tech and artificial intelligence (AI) comes top of the list.
Forrester predicts that this year alone there will be a 300% increase in investment in artificial intelligence and much of this will be targeted at delivering improved experiences to customers.

JWT Intelligence research shows that 62% of millennials in the UK say they would appreciate a brand or retailer using AI technology to show more interesting products. Read more ...

Coming to terms with Canada’s loyalty Tsunami
Aimia and LoyaltyOne battle with changing landscape This is the most profitable period ever for airlines, but it is still true that few airlines make money out of seats. For most, the loyalty programme is the most lucrative division of the business. Which in part explains the tsunami that has hit the Canadian loyalty world in the past year. Read more ...

GDPR is coming: Are you ready?
The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force in less than a year (May 2018).

If you are among the 96% of companies that according to research still do not understand GDPR, here is what you need to know. Read more ...

Joining up the dots: Exclusive interview with Colin Evans
Colin Evans, chairman of the Collinson Group, is one of the founding fathers of loyalty and a worthy recipient of The Loyalty Magazine Awards 2017 Personality of the Year Award. He rarely consents to interviews, so don’t miss this exclusive and fascinating Q&A as he looks back on his career and discusses where the industry is headed.
Read more ...

Groundbreaking initiatives at The Loyalty Magazine Awards 2017
- Winners display a thoughtful mix of technology with a personal touch
- Strong CSR theme through the evening
- Read details on all the winners
Read more ...

Meet the Sponsor: Tranxactor
Bringing a proven loyalty and gift solution to European retailers. In conversation with John Norrie, founder and CEO of Tranxactor Read more ...

Meet the Sponsor: Bink
What is the Future of the Loyalty Industry? In a phrase, “Payment Linked Loyalty”
Article by Lee Clarke, CEO and co-founder, Bink

Today’s consumer is fast, efficient and digitally savvy. They expect seamless, personalised, end to end solutions that save them time and harness the power of the technology they’re already using. Yet traditional loyalty schemes have evolved very little since their inception in the 1990s, continuing to operate on a plastic card or paper voucher basis. Read more ...

Meet the sponsor Q&A: Comarch
What makes us stay loyal to a brand? Julian Bonnett, business development manager at Comarch, explains the company's approach

Is a customer who buys from you every day loyal, or are they buying from habit or convenience? What would make a customer go out of their way to buy from you, rather than from a competitor?

Loyalty combines functional and emotional connections with the brand. It comes from a lasting relationship based on trust, value, convenience and satisfaction. Read more ...