Loyalty and rewards

The Baltimore community bank is experimenting with fee-based checking accounts that bundle cellphone protection, roadside assistance and other perks with an app that makes such services easier to use. Early returns are promising.

Some institutions have experimented with cash-based rewards to kick-start membership growth, but it's unclear whether the strategy will be widely adopted.

Large banks that counted on airline and hospitality points to drive loan growth in the credit card business are anticipating renewed demand once safety concerns subside. But they’re also cautioning that the recovery in travel spending is likely to be gradual.

There are signs that participation in cardholder loyalty offerings is slipping. Credit unions must reengage members if they hope to retain those accounts.

Mobile banking platform provider N26 is expanding its rewards program through a partnership with card-linked offer platform provider Dosh, enabling customers to earn cash back when using an N26 debit card.

As wireless handset costs rise, American Express is throwing in insurance coverage for phone repair or replacement on top-tier rewards cards as another way to get upscale travel-and-entertainment customers to stick around as the pandemic drags on.

I2c and Unifimoney change incentives to fit market conditions, rather than focusing primarily on boosting consumer spending.

Discovery Bank in South Africa and other overseas financial companies say healthier customers are more profitable. They are giving reward points, gym subsidies and even free Apple Watches to those who meet fitness goals.

Walmart’s warehouse unit Sam’s Club is introducing digital features and new rewards tiers to modernize its Synchrony-issued Mastercard.

The question isn't whether things will magically return to the 2019 status quo, but where is there still pent-up demand among consumers and merchants?

In the pandemic age, banks are getting creative in a bid to keep affluent customers.

Walgreens is collaborating with Synchrony to roll out a cobranded credit card with an eye on the convergence of digital tools for spending and health care.

Synchrony wasn’t unscathed by the pandemic — consumer spending slowed during the first half of the year — but its mix of private-label and cobranded cards for everyday items suffered far less than other issuers' cards that emphasized luxury and travel.

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 saw some businesses become big winners — such as Zoom, Home Depot and payments companies like PayPal — while other businesses suffered heavily, most notably the travel and hospitality industries. Credit card issuers also suffered, as demand lagged heavily for new cards and their overall spending dropped considerably during the year.

American Express has spent years refining a decision-making engine that can tailor products and services to cardholders' needs in real time.

The motivation behind JPMorgan Chase's purchase of rewards company cxLoyalty is clear — travel spending and rewards have suffered greatly during the pandemic — but another problem Chase is tackling with this acquisition is the need to wean people off cash rewards.

Michael Moeser, senior analyst at PaymentsSource, talks to Jennifer Philo, group vice president of U.S. commerce at Blackhawk Network, about the ways the global pandemic has transformed the use cases for gift cards, prepaid cards and loyalty products the company supports.

JPMorgan Chase is buying cxLoyalty, a major credit card loyalty platform, in a bid to enrich its own card loyalty programs when travel resumes after the global pandemic.

JPMorgan Chase is partnering with Air Canada, the bank's first new cobranded card partner to be announced in years.

How do you connect with the customer in today’s environment? Citi's new head of branded cards, Pam Habner, sits down with PaymentsSource's Daniel Wolfe to talk about purpose-driven leadership and how companies can take a stand on issues that matter.