Technology companies providing card-linking solutions are enabling widespread adoption of card-linked programs. Increasingly retailers/merchants, financial institutions, card issuers—and consumers—are counting on innovative platforms now available to help card-linking grow.
The CardLinx Association is a non-profit trade group with members in 17 countries and on four continents (www.cardlinx.org). Members include Microsoft, Rakuten, Samsung, UBS and RBC to name a few. CardLinx recently evaluated card-link technology companies worldwide based on four key factors:
1. Innovation. Features all parties care about most, including relevance, targeting, privacy and results.
2. Engagement. Consumer ease-of-use and experience.
3. Longevity. The length of time the solution has been in market.
4. Scale. The number of consumers, merchants, FIs and card issuers impacted.
Read on to find out what these category leaders did to make the list.
THE TOP 10 CARD-LINKED TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES:
1. Cardlytics
Cardlytics harnesses the power of purchase intelligence to help consumers receive more relevant ads and offers; help financial institutions increase customer engagement; and allow marketers to act on insights and achieve measurable returns. Its bank- and privacy-friendly technology solution links banking and marketing to benefit both industries, and provides consumers the rewards, cash back and savings they’re looking for.
2. Augeo
Augeo’s independent loyalty platform enables personalized experiences; shares insight from data and analytics; and includes technology needed to drive engagement. The payment card-linking technology delivers cash-back or bonus-points to consumers. Augeo’s platform, Ampre, also provides merchants historical data needed to understand the customer, target offers and increase ROI.
3. Fidel
Fidel enables secure, reliable access to real-time card payment data. Through one API, developers access data from the three major card networks and build applications on top of the payments infrastructure—supercharging the targeted, card-linked savings, rewards and cash-back programs consumers demand. The capabilities promote customer loyalty to financial institutions, card issuers, and merchants.
4. Collinson
Collinson believes today’s choice-rich customer demands more for their loyalty. Working with leading brands—including 1,400+ banks, 90+ airlines and 20+ hotel groups—the loyalty strategy, solutions and deployment company enables card-linking to attract profitable customers and build long-term, mutually beneficial relationships, with a specialization in engaging high-earning, frequent travelers.
5. Empyr
Empyr is a leading card-linked offer engagement platform for national brands and digital publishers– increasing consumer engagement, driving guaranteed revenue, and unlocking transparent offline sales analytics. The company helps websites and apps earn offline revenue—and reveal in-store sales attribution—from custom card-linking programs.
6. OpenSparkz
OpenSparkz delivers an end-to-end scheme-agnostic card-linked enablement platform that redefines the next generation of loyalty and offers for program operators, merchants and consumers. The company helps organizations that already have loyalty programs or already make offers to their customers by removing friction and cost and creating better experiences for consumers and merchants.
7. Tuango
Tuango harnesses group buying power from its more than 1 million members to negotiate local and national exclusive offers with merchants. By working with businesses and bringing them a minimum number of customers, the company provides the best discounts around. Consumers benefit by saving money and businesses are able to garner new clientele.
8. TakeMePay/Japan Foodie
Japan Foodie is well-known as a multi-payment service mainly for the restaurant industry in Japan. When tourists visit Japan whether they are from China or the US, they can use the Japan Foodie app on their smartphone to make a reservation, order off the menu and pay, eliminating the friction of finding and dining at a restaurant in a foreign country. Japan Foodie launched TakeMe Pay, a smartphone multi-payment app that uses QR codes to accommodate numerous mobile and online payment services from around the world.
9. Meniga
Meniga improves financial lives by bringing consumers, businesses and banks together in a mutually beneficial ecosystem—all through its innovative platform. It starts with the transaction. Consumers get personalized rewards from the brand they love. Businesses take their sales and marketing to a new high through benchmarking and targeting. And banks improve customer engagement and boost revenue.
10. Kard
Kard is a loyalty program designed to help consumers earn more credit card rewards, miles and cash back and card issuers offset their loyalty costs. Kard is a web application that notifies consumers when they can earn points by shopping at some of the largest retailers in the country like Wal Mart, Home Depot, The Gap, and Apple. Kard also provides a Google Chrome Extension that sends notifications while shopping online.
UPCOMING CONFERENCES
CARDLINX WEST
DATA & MOBILE OFFERS – THE NEXT PHASE OF COMMERCE
April 21, 2020 | San Francisco, CA
CARDLINX EUROPE
PERSONALIZED MOBILE COMMERCE – IN-STORE COMMERCE IN EUROPE
June 30, 2020 | Paris, France
CARDLINX ASIA
THE AGE OF MOBILE WALLETS & MOBILE OFFERS
September 1, 2020 | Tokyo, Japan