Loyalty Newswire – July 5th, 2022

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By: Wise Marketer Staff |

Posted on July 5, 2022

Each week, our team of editors curate a list of the latest customer loyalty, technology, and other relevant marketing news. Our goal is to make it simple for busy professionals to quickly digest important industry news and trending topics. Show your support by joining our mailing list to gain access to exclusive content, events, promotions, and more. Or simply enjoy today's newswire!

  • Blockchain-based B2B rewards marketplace qiibee raises $4.8 million in latest funding round
  • Aimia confirms divestiture of its minority stake in PLM loyalty program
  • Why are insurance companies penalizing loyal customers?
  • In partnership with Wyng, LEVO doubled user engagement and improves conversion rate by 29%
  • Health tech companies scramble to secure private medical data after abortion ruling
  • Flagstar Bank's 2021 data breach exposed the personal information of 1.5 million customers
  • Aristocrat Gaming expands executive leadership team with newly created role

LOYALTY

qiibee Raises $4.8M To Expand Global Footprint

Highlight: Founded by two brothers Gabriele and Gianluca Giancola, the Swiss company is setting the gold standard for brands to connect their loyalty programs through blockchain and scale partnership networks efficiently. qiibee has earmarked funds secured during this round for the growth of its global team. In addition, the investment will bolster the company's plans for expansion into other priority markets such as North America. qiibee's CEO and Co-founder, Gabriele Giancola said, "In creating qiibee, we set out with the mission to unlock the purchasing power of the global rewards economy by making all rewards exchangeable through our blockchain-based B2B rewards marketplace. Allowing our clients to easily scale and expand their partnerwork by giving instant access to world-renowned brands, thousands of rewards, crypto, and NFTs, and connecting loyalty programs with millions of new members, that's exactly what we are doing."

Aimia Confirms Subsidiaries' Divestiture of PLM Loyalty Program for C$531 Million

Highlight: Aimia Inc. said Thursday that Aimia Holdings UK Ltd. and Aimia Holdings UK II Ltd. will receive 531 million Canadian dollars (US$411.8 million) in proceeds for the divestiture of its minority stake in owner and operator of Club Premier, a Mexican loyalty program. The Montreal-based investment holding company said Aimia Holdings UK Ltd. and Aimia Holdings UK II Ltd. have executed the definitive agreement with PLM Premier, S.A.P.I. de C.V ("PLM"), Grupo Aeromexico, S.A.B. de C.V. and Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V. to divest its 48.9% equity in PLM.

After Months of Slippery Excuses, Insurers Are Forced To Prove They Have Stopped Ripping off Loyal Customers

Highlight: Why the penalty for loyalty? It wasn't a result of these customers always making claims, but because insurers knew they were loyal – and they had a pretty good idea that nine times out of ten they wouldn't bat an eyelid if their premium increased at renewal. These loyal customers, many elderly, trusted their insurer to do the right thing by them. How wrong they were. Who says loyalty pays? This fleecing of loyal customers enabled insurance companies to go aggressively after new business – a financial yardstick used by City analysts to judge the success (or otherwise) of individual companies. Some of the fat profits made from loyal policyholders were used by insurers to offer cut-price cover to new customers. In some instances, it meant a 30 to 40 per cent price difference between the cost of cover for a customer of six or seven years standing and someone buying the identical plan as a new policyholder.

RETAIL

Lēvo Doubles Engagement and Increases Conversion by 29% With Personalization Based on Zero-party Data Powered by Wyng

Highlight: Christina Bellman, CEO of LĒVO says, “Reaching customers is harder than ever with the changes in data privacy norms. We knew personalization with Wyng would be powerful, but we were blown away to see how much engagement and conversion increased immediately after launching just a few personalized experiences.” Like many retailers, LĒVO faces a major challenge in engaging a broad audience with very different needs. Their products are used by DIY beauty and home health enthusiasts, professional chefs, and passionate cannabis users of all ages and skill levels. Traditional targeted ads and landing pages that rely on third-party data are becoming more expensive and less effective. To continue to acquire customers in this environment, they need to instantly understand and personalize their website for any anonymous visitor who lands on their site. LĒVO partnered with Wyng to build preference-based personalization using zero-party data for their Shopify-based site in record time.

DATA & PRIVACY

Roe’s Overturn Is Tech’s Privacy Apocalypse

Highlight: Tech companies don't want to take sides in the abortion fight but won't be able to avoid being drawn in. As Axios has reported, these firms will almost certainly surrender user data when they receive legitimate requests from law-enforcement authorities — although Google says it will "push back on overly broad demands." Determined anti-abortion advocates are likely to challenge companies' policies and even try to pass laws requiring data retention. Each tech company drawn into this conflict starts from a different position.

Flagstar Bank Data Breach Leaked Sensitive Information of 1.5 Million Customers

Highlight: An investigation concluded on June 2, 2022, determined that hackers accessed sensitive information in the December 2021 incident. The bank said it had notified affected individuals, reported to federal law enforcement authorities, and initiated incident response plans... The company indicated that hackers accessed names and other personally identifiable information (PII) and Social Security numbers of 1,547,169 customers, including 1,028 Maine residents. In a standard notification letter sent to customers, Flagstar said it initiated incident response protocols after detecting the network security breach. “Upon learning of the incident, we promptly activated our incident response plan, engaged external cybersecurity professionals experienced in handling these types of incidents, and reported the matter to federal law enforcement,” Flagstar’s website stated.

B2B

Aristocrat Gaming™ Expands Leadership Team, Adding Oriana Branon as Vice President of Communications and Corporate Affairs

Highlight: Aristocrat Gaming™ announced today that Oriana Branon has joined the company as Vice President of Communications and Corporate Affairs. Reporting to CEO of Aristocrat Gaming Hector Fernandez, Branon will be a member of the executive leadership team. In this newly created role, she will oversee all external and internal communications for the Gaming division, and provide strategic guidance on the organization’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) as well as sustainability and ethical impact, and diversity, equity, and inclusion... “I am excited to join Aristocrat Gaming to build on the company’s rich history of delivering award-winning and entertaining gaming experiences to players around the world,” Branon said. “I look forward to working with the team to capture the tremendous opportunity ahead.”

Did you miss the previous newswire? Stay informed: Loyalty Newswire – June 27th, 2022

The Loyalty Newswire is compiled and edited by the staff at The Wise Marketer.