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New research by Vesdia Corp. suggests that consumers with credit or debit cards, featuring rewards programs attached to a merchant network, are spending more this year at participating merchants' outlets than last year. The Atlanta-based marketer of loyalty and merchant-funded card reward programs says that in a sample of 10 million consumers enrolled in Vesdia-administered card rewards programs with a merchant network, consumers increased their card spending at participating merchants by 37% during the first nine months of 2008 compared to the same period a year earlier. Lars Holmquist, Vesdia's chief marketing officer, tells CardLine that through credit and debit card rewards programs attached to merchant networks consumers may earn as much as 10 times the value of standard rewards programs funded by card issuers. "Merchant-funded rewards programs are still in the early stages of development, but a growing number of card issuers are offering them to help increase customer loyalty to the issuer and to offset the costs of rewards, through merchant participation," Holmquist says. In most cases, issuers are offering merchant-funded rewards programs in addition to existing points-based credit and debit card rewards programs, he says. Atlanta-based Citizens Financial Group's Citizens Bank teamed with Vesdia last year for a credit and debit card rewards program linked to a merchant network. Vesdia announced in September that Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks Inc. selected it to create a merchant network-based credit and debit card rewards program.
