Loyalty and rewards

Even if most consumers aren't leaving their plastic cards at home in favor of mobile wallets, the very idea of using a mobile wallet is no longer cutting-edge. But a few companies go the extra mile.

A former executive at SunTrust has joined Cardlytics Inc. to help the company expand its partnerships with other banks.

“Liquid” is the best descriptor for this shift because it illustrates the continuum of pay-with-points options, writes Barry Kirk, vice president of customer loyalty for Maritz Motivation Solutions.

Ingenico views the integration as a way to increase the use of loyalty programs during the payment process.

Nearly a year after integrating with major mobile wallets, Punchh is expanding its cloud-based platform to integrate loyalty and payments for quick-service restaurants.

The announcement comes only a month after five other retailers dropped from Plenti. AT&T had dropped out of the program three months earlier as the first retailer to leave.

That’s because transaction-based loyalty programs that focus on discounting simply train customers to wait for coupons and incentives, writes Tom Caporaso, CEO of Clarus Commerce.

Wirecard is working with Fortress GB on new payments technology that will enable fans of two U.K.-based football clubs to earn points and cash-back rewards when making purchases inside stadiums at sporting events — and will track their spending data to decide on future offers.

Starbucks has for some time been the poster child of mobile payments acceptance in the U.S., but even this success may be tapering off.

Wirecard has introduced a feature that uses payments data to shape marketing offers and loyalty programs in the travel industry.