Fintech success has come not just from technology but from knowing what people want and how they want to be treated. It takes creativity to expand what’s possible. We’re starting to see some of that creativity gush to life through innovative rewards programs that are incentivizing customers to adopt new routines and try new things that go beyond rewarding loyalty to unlocking new revenue streams. Clever card program design can help keep your customers … your customers, and it keeps your brand part of a cycle of surprise and delight that may reveal more and more opportunity as it grows.
Credit card rewards programs have evolved beyond traditional miles and points. Just about anything is possible, such as:
- Tiered levels of cashback bonuses for certain spending categories or even certain retailers
- Exclusive access to products or sales
- Adding credits in an app for a free coffee on the way to work
- The promise of planting a tree with each purchase
Rewards can be strategically offered through a branded credit card to incentivize your customers to make purchases, cross-sell, increase transaction volume, and reduce cart abandonment.
Modern card issuing vs. traditional incentives and rewards
A modern credit card program should offer flexibility, speed, personalization, and power for a brand’s cardholder acquisition capabilities. And whatever behavior a brand wants to encourage and reward can become a driver for its rewards and retention strategy.
Traditional incentives and rewards programs offer a closed-loop experience. Customers receive a card that they carry in their wallet. Some cards come loaded with cash or points and some give customers the chance to earn additional cash and points as they interact with the brand offering the card. But these cookie-cutter programs offer little variation and cannot easily be customized.
Modern card issuing, on the other hand, mitigates these shortcomings by offering cards that are highly customizable. Unlike traditional cards that relied on inflexible and outdated infrastructure, modern incentives and open-loop rewards cards (that can be spent wherever the network brand was accepted) leverage open APIs to access cutting-edge functionality provided by a scalable global platform.
There are a lot of benefits that come from a modern card program, and here are a few you may not have thought about.
Increase revenue
- Build new revenue streams: A card program featuring incentives and rewards can empower your business to pull in additional revenue. Create more revenue streams—and more loyal customers—by delivering personalized rewards and branded experiences that are backed by the in-depth customer insights and real-time data that Marqeta's platform offers.
- Interchange fees: Earn a portion of the interchange fee for every transaction made with your rewards programs' card, which is paid by the merchant or the merchant's bank to the issuing bank behind the card.
Increase loyalty
- Incentivize spending: Card rewards incentivize customers to spend more. It’s simple, if your customers think they’re earning meaningful rewards, they’ll find more things to buy.
- Keep them coming back: Customers are more likely to stick with a brand that acknowledges their loyalty in new and exciting ways.
Be the brand they love: Card rewards build brand affinity. When customers earn and redeem rewards, they associate these positive experiences with your brand, thus fostering greater loyalty.
With rewards programs, you may be able to create strong relationships with your customers and expand your opportunity with them. Innovative opportunities, such as expanding rewards programs, are one of the many ways that fintechs can strive to keep winning.
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