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Fiserv Inc. this week announced UChoose Rewards, a loyalty product enabling customers to earn merchant-funded rewards for both debit and credit card use at hundreds of local and national retailers. The Brookfield, Wis.-based transaction processor previously offered its banking clients only an issuer-funded rewards program for debit and credit cards. Fiserv teamed with Affinity Solutions Inc., a company specializing in merchant-funded rewards programs, to create the program through its links to a wide range of retailers. Cardholders access rewards by visiting UChoose's web site, which enables them to earn points through various retailers for purchases made with debit and credit cards. Banks may customize the program by adjusting the point value customers can earn for using credit and debit cards. Central Pacific Bank of Honolulu has signed on as one of the first to offer UChoose Rewards, Fiserv says. Fiserv's new program may be useful for smaller banks, particularly those looking for enhancements to their debit rewards programs, Gwenn Bézard, research director with Boston-based Aite Group LLC, tells CardLine. "Smaller institutions have a harder time funding debit card rewards programs because debit doesn't generate as much profit. Merchant-funded rewards programs, although they are in the early stage of development, show a lot of promise for helping issuers to offset the cost of attracting and retaining customers for card programs," Bézard says.
