Loyalty and rewards

The promise of unlocking some of the "big data" within payments is coming nearer, with new technology expanding the way consumer purchase data is used to shape marketing campaigns.

Apple Pay’s struggles to build its user base are nothing compared with the labors of Sionic Mobile, which has been on a six-year odyssey of inventing and reinventing its mobile payments app.

The U.K.'s new MoneyGram Plus card seems at first like a standard loyalty card, but to MoneyGram it is a way to streamline the long and repetitive task of initiating a transfer through an agent.

U.S. consumers remain unimpressed by mobile wallets and annoyed by EMV, so something has to give at the point of sale. That something could be coupons.

Starbucks' loyalty program will soon reward bonus points based on money spent rather than recognizing individual purchases, a change designed to ease workflow and increase participation rather than dilute benefits, company executives said Monday morning.

There is a different feel to the troubles American Express faces today, mainly because its lost Costco relationship represented what might be one of the last of its kind — a deal in which a large retailer gives exclusivity to a certain card brand and tells customers how to pay.

ExxonMobil has expanded the rewards program on its store-branded credit cards, to provide a larger discount on fuel sales.

Consumers may not care much about mobile payments, but many of them care a lot about mobile loyalty.

It may seem tough for a system that limits itself to one retailer per vertical to expand, but Plenti is making it happen.

As Square and PayPal push business financing, American Express is adding extra funding options to give businesses a lifeline when spending needs a spike.