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Hotels and airlines join up to trade traveller benefits

A raft of Airline alliances with hotels are bring about some well needed consolidation in the travel business.

Most travellers – unless they are very frequent and determined, end up with small amounts of loyalty points that are difficult to use. The recent bundle of airline alliances with hotels are simplifying the saving and making loyalty points more useful and therefore more valuable.

American Airlines and Hyatt announced a new partnershipin March in which elite … [Read more...] about Hotels and airlines join up to trade traveller benefits

Did you know that Sunday was ice cream day?

It is 35 years since US President Ronald Reagan declared the third Sunday of July as National Ice Cream Day and the month of July as National Ice Cream Month.

Reagan’s proclamation noted the ice cream industry generated $3.5 billion in annual sales and thought this was something worth celebrating.

According to Brad Plothow, vice president of brand and communications for software company Womply which compiled the run down below: “According to our data, foot traffic at local … [Read more...] about Did you know that Sunday was ice cream day?

Sad demise of a sustainable programme

A loyalty scheme which rewarded shoppers paying by Mastercard at ‘sustainable’ retailers has ceased trading – despite the current popularity of the concept - less than two years after its launch.

The Ice loyalty scheme, which was set up in 2017, was designed to encourage environmentally-friendly purchasing, and operated alongside Mastercard credit cards.

A major perk to this scheme was that customers could earn Ice points on top of other loyalty schemes, … [Read more...] about Sad demise of a sustainable programme

SCA postponed as EBA bows to pressure

The date for the compulsory use of Strong Customer Authentication has been delayed after a maelstrom of pressure from all parties. No new date has been given. This decision does not affect the roll out of Open Banking, which is still set to take place on September 14 also, and is having its own problems.

The recent decision by the European Banking Authority (EBA) and confirmed by the European Commission that all ecommerce retailers should use Strong Customer Authentication from … [Read more...] about SCA postponed as EBA bows to pressure

Koin working with Fidel for ethical rewards

Having just announced their Seedrs crowdfunding campaign, Koin Rewards, the ethical rewards platform built on blockchain, is to partner with card linking API Fidel to build a responsible and sustainable rewards programme for shoppers.

Koin Rewards is working with Fidel to build a community of merchants and members based upon shared ethical behaviours. Koin Rewards is using Fidel’s PCI-compliant card linking API to enable merchants to automatically reward their customers for … [Read more...] about Koin working with Fidel for ethical rewards

Seeing deadline for strong authentication as opportunity

The recent decision by the European Banking Authority (EBA) and confirmed by the European Commission that all ecommerce retailers should use Strong Customer Authentication from September 14 is going to cause major problems for consumers and businesses alike. But isn’t this a massive opportunity for loyalty?

The requirement for SCA will apply to online shoppers whose purchase is of more than £27 in a single transaction and will require shoppers to relay codes sent to their mobile … [Read more...] about Seeing deadline for strong authentication as opportunity

Focus on Australia -1

Amazon – friend or foe on prime day?David Jones launches, but Australians remain convenience focussed

Australians were the first to participate in Amazon Prime Day this week, which leads us to ponder two questions. How can retailers use the Amazon model to their own loyalty advantage, and why do surveys suggest Australians have never been LESS loyal?

Amazon has been a thorn in the flesh of retailers generally since its creation. It only arrived in Australia for Christmas … [Read more...] about Focus on Australia -1

BA and Marriott smarting from data penalties

8 key trends from Verizon data report

Governments have woken up to the potential that GDPR presents to move money out of private businesses and into the government Treasury pot – so much easier than trying to make the internet giants pay taxes.

Facebook, which carelessly shared the data of up to 87 million Facebook users with Cambridge Analytica, has already been fined a fairly insignificant £500,000 by the UK government. Now the US regulators have approved a … [Read more...] about BA and Marriott smarting from data penalties

Article for teckies: SEC approves sale of first consumer tokens to reward online activity

After cracking down on ICOs, the SEC just approved the first two RegA+ tokens that offer an alternative way for anyone to gain a financial stake in a company, even unaccredited investors.

Regulation A+ is an initial public offering (IPO) alternative geared towards startups in need of early funding. Regulation A+ funding was launched in 2012 under the “Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act.” While Regulation A+ has more lenient disclosure obligations than as with an IPO, it has two … [Read more...] about Article for teckies: SEC approves sale of first consumer tokens to reward online activity

Kantar deal highlights need for data aggregation

Marketing and advertising agency WPP has confirmed it is selling 60% of its stake in markets research and data company Kantar to Bain Capital, valued at around $4bn. It follows the recent US$4bn acquisition of Epsilon by Publicis, highlighting the appetite to invest in data aggregation capabilities.

The size of the deal is a surprise because Mark Read, chief executive of WPP, had previously stated his intent to hold onto 25-40% of the company. An industry … [Read more...] about Kantar deal highlights need for data aggregation