As Congress deliberates over the next funding round, businesses big and small are working creatively and diligently to survive. Hilton's sign of relief could be heard when AMEX stuck to its contract and purchased 1bn of Hilton Honors points, Vitamix talks loyalty and engagement, and Uber announces two new courier services. Here are those stories and other loyalty-related news:
- American Express buys $1 billion worth of Hilton Honors points.
- Friendly Express releases new loyalty program on ZipLine's platform.
- Pakistani government introduces centralized loyalty program for remittances.
- Vitamix interview digs into its loyalty and engagement strategy.
- New GDPR compliant blockchain solution developed to assist mass testing and ensure privacy.
- Governments turn to technology to "flatten the curve" and slow the spread of coronavirus.
- Uber adds retail and peer-to-peer package delivery services as COVID-19 forces change.
- Retail landlords have collected as little as 15% of April rents.
- U.S. Treasury Department in talks with various airlines about loyalty assests being used as possible collateral for loans.
LOYALTY PROGRAM NEWS:
American Express pre-buys $1B of Hilton reward points
Quotable: “American Express pre-purchased $1B worth of Hilton Honors points toward their co-branded credit card program. The transaction is part of a contractual agreement between the two companies that was negotiated earlier and was part of AXP's capital and liquidity planning, AXP said.”
Friendly Express Debuts New Loyalty Program
Quotable: “Friendly Express Inc. is introducing Express Rewards, a new loyalty program integrated with private label debit on ZipLine's platform. Express Rewards members and Express Debit users will receive incentives such as fuel discounts, surprise and delight offers, and clubs across the c-store operator's 42-store footprint.”
Pakistan Government To Start Loyalty Program for Foreign Remittances
Quotable: “The federal government of Pakistan has decided to introduce a comprehensive Centralized Loyalty Program to provide more concessions to Overseas Pakistanis by sending Debit Cards and Loyalty Cards to Overseas Pakistanis who send remittances in order to get Smartphone based discounted benefits.”
LOYALTY STRATEGY NEWS:
Vitamix Blends A Loyalty Strategy That Rewards Engagement
Quotable: “I think the program first and foremost is built around engagement, for Vitamix owners and future owners. You can be a prospective customer and still join the program. They can come and use our new resource center for new recipes, articles, and best practices for using their Vitamix machine. And then [they have] the opportunity to win rewards by engaging in this exciting content.”
DATA PRIVACY NEWS:
New Blockchain Solution to Fight COVID-19 Complies With EU Data Privacy Regs
Quotable: “Alongside a blockchain portal, Centogene has also developed a SARS-CoV-2 test itself, which can be performed at the firm’s laboratories. Blockchain is then used to directly seal the test results virtually and provide individuals with a verifiable blockchain certificate, indicating whether they have tested positive or negative for the virus.”
Location, location, location! - data, privacy and coronavirus
Quotable: “If a user chooses to register their isolation, they are prompted to enable location services for the app on a landing page which 'is intended to be completed by those who are registering self-isolation for themselves and are currently at the location of their self-isolation.' It’s not clear for what purpose the location data is collected by the app – however, in other countries (such as South Korea), individual location data has been used by government to monitor compliance with isolation.”
RETAIL NEWS:
Uber adds retail and personal package delivery services as COVID-19 reshapes its business
Quotable: “Uber is introducing two new types of services, the company announced this week, including Uber Direct and Uber Connect. Direct is a delivery platform for retail items, while Connect is a peer-to-peer package delivery service, for sending goods to family and friends. This marks the most aggressive foray yet for Uber into courier services, after it already introduced grocery items to its Uber Eats platform as the coronavirus pandemic continues to suppress its ride-hailing business.”
Some retail landlords have collected just 15% of April rents: Report
Quotable: “So far in April, some retail landlords and mall owners have collected just 15 percent of what they were owed, according to Bloomberg, citing a Marcus & Millichap estimate ... Tenants who are still paying rent for April include AT&T, T-Mobile and J.C. Penney, while Ross Stores and Solidcore and asking for rent abatements. Williams-Sonoma has stopped paying rent as well, and Equinox has also stopped paying rent at several New York City locations.”
AIRLINE NEWS:
U.S. Sees Airline Loyalty Assets as Possible Collateral
Quotable: “DeNardi pegged the Delta, United and American loyalty program valuations at $21.6 billion, $19.5 billion and $12.5 billion respectively, according to an April 1 research note. He estimated Southwest Airlines Co., Alaska Air Group Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp.’s mileage plans as being worth $10.6 billion, $4.4 billion and $2.1 billion, respectively.”
See: Loyalty Newswire – April 13th, 2020
The Loyalty Newswire is compiled and edited by the staff at The Wise Marketer.
