In this week's Newswire you can enjoy a curated list of the latest customer loyalty, technology, payments, and other relevant marketing news. We include a spectrum of topics, all with the intention of keeping you informed and enabling you to star in your next big meeting.
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- Walmart CTO Says Crypto Will Become a ‘Major’ Payments Disruptor
- Rumor Mill Spins That Twitter Will Launch a Crypto Enabled Digital Wallet
- Man Can’t Access $1.8MN Bitcoin as He Forgot Security Question Answer
- El Pollo Loco Relaunches Loco Rewards With the “Fastest Cash Reward in the Industry”
- Middle East Loyalty Platform Provider RELATED Wins International Award for Kuwaiti Baitak Rewards
- New Africa and Middle East Loyalty Research Report Predictions
- Will Brands Begin To Pay Consumers for Their Data?
- Amazon Rolls Out Venmo Payment Option in Time for Black Friday
- Visa and Thunes Expand Visa Direct’s Reach to 1.5 Billion Digital Wallets
- Mastercard and Cellulant Partner to Empower Millions of Consumers across Africa
Walmart CTO says crypto will become a ‘major’ payments disruptor
Walmart’s global chief technology officer Suresh Kumar has voiced his opinion that cryptocurrency will become a “major” area of disruption, particularly in how customers pay for virtual and physical goods in the future. Walmart already had more than 200 Bitcoin ATMs installed at stores across the United States as of October 2021 and plans to expand that number to 8,000 over an unspecified time frame. He commented in this article “when you specifically talk about crypto, it is going to be about discovery of products, whether it is physical or virtual inside, either the Metaverse or upfront, and then how people transact.”
Rumor mill spins that Twitter will launch a crypto enabled digital wallet
Reports are circulating that Twitter is building a prototype for a digital wallet that will support crypto withdrawals and deposits. There is no official announcement from Twitter as yet, but the rumors hint at the importance of digital wallets and cryptocurrency for the future.
Man can't access $1.8mn Bitcoin as he forgot security question answer
While many business leaders like Walmart’s CTO as noted above, are touting cryptocurrency as central to consumer payment strategies in the future, the fragility of the construct was highlighted by yet another story of a person losing access to their account value. Read here about a TikToker who goes by the name @conspiracycubed, who reports that he lost access to his Hotmail account, in which he had saved the details of his digital wallet to claim Bitcoin now worth around $2 million.
El Pollo Loco relaunches Loco Rewards with the “fastest cash reward in the industry”
El Pollo Loco, the nation’s leading fire-grilled chicken restaurant chain, announced the national launch of its loyalty program “Loco Rewards™,” offering customers what it claims to be the fastest cash reward in the industry. In the new program, members will earn 1 point for every $1 spent and can earn a $5 reward after every 50 points earned. The program includes an enrollment bonus of chips and guacamole for new members and will offer a dynamic menu of offers tied to visits, repeat purchases and specific products. The ten percent rebate is strong for the QSR category but the reward threshold, while it may be low, is something is easily copied by competition. How long it remains this program offers the “fastest cash reward in the industry” is something to watch.
Middle East Loyalty Platform Provider RELATED wins International Award for Kuwaiti Baitak Rewards
RELATED won the award for a loyalty program designed for Kuwait Finance House “KFH,” a pioneer in Islamic Banking. The “Baitak Rewards” program won the "Best Use of Payments in a Programme". The "Incentive Awards 2022" also recognized Rabih Farhat, Founder and Managing Partner of RELATED for the “Industry Entrepreneur” award, for his continuous efforts and passion bringing up the importance of loyalty and rewards concept to advance the economy. Commenting on the company’s achievements at the Incentive Awards 2022, Rabih Farhat explained that these two awards are proof of the progress made by the loyalty and rewards industry in the GCC and MENA region, and places it at the top of the pyramid of the digital solutions sector for loyalty and rewards worldwide.
New Research Report predicts
The "Africa & Middle East Loyalty Programs Market Intelligence and Future Growth Dynamics Databook - 50+ KPIs on Loyalty Programs Trends by End-Use Sectors, Operational KPIs, Retail Product Dynamics, and Consumer Demographics - Q1 2022 Update" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. According to the Q1 2022 Global Loyalty Programs Survey, Loyalty Programs Market in Africa & Middle East is expected to grow by 12.7% on annual basis to reach US$6573.8 million in 2022. The report is available for purchase here. Please note that Wise Marketer has no affiliation with this group.
Will brands begin to pay consumers for their data?
A WSJ article from Katie Deighton shares that growing privacy protections online are breathing new life into an old idea - paying consumers for permission to track them as they surf the web. Startups in the space offer browser extensions that collect anonymized data on people’s internet use much the same way that standard tracking tech does, with the goal of helping marketers target their ads. Participants often save or earn less than $20 a month through participation, a paltry sum to many consumers, but supporting brands say their arrangement is better than the prevailing system, in which consumers collect nothing.
Amazon rolls out Venmo payment option in time for Black Friday
Amazon is offering customers even more choice during the checkout experience as Venmo will be an option through their Amazon account, allowing them to use it during checkout and make it their default payment method. Max Bardon, vice president of Amazon Worldwide Payments, commented “We’re excited to continue to offer customers even more options when it comes to how and when they want to pay for their order.” The Venmo option will be available by Black Friday and transactions will be protected by the back-end technology Amazon has built, as well as Amazon’s A-to-z Guarantee.
Visa and Thunes Expand Visa Direct’s Reach to 1.5 billion Digital Wallets
Visa is partnering with Thunes to help individuals and small businesses move money internationally to 78 digital wallet providers, reaching 1.5 billion digital wallets across 44 countries and territories. This partnership will now expand Visa Direct’s reach to nearly 7 billion endpoints, including more than 3 billion cards, over 2 billion accounts and 1.5 billion digital wallets. “From an agricultural worker in Bangladesh to a young professional in London who is looking to send money to family overseas, Visa strives to create more ways for individuals and SMBs to participate in the global economy,” said Ruben Salazar Genovez, Global Head of Visa Direct.
Mastercard and Cellulant Partner to Empower Millions of Consumers across Africa
The partnership will enable customers to pay globally with a Mastercard virtual payment solution linked to the Cellulant wallet. Mastercard’s technology will enable consumers to shop online with or without a bank account, through a simple and secure payment experience. The announcement comes as digital commerce and online shopping is thriving across Africa and the need for safer means of shopping online increases. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, mobile devices are the primary channel used to connect to the internet. Cellulant is a leading Pan African payments technology company that provides locally relevant and alternative payment methods for global, regional, and local merchants.
Weekly Insight – Are Influencers worth your investment?
Many say that employing influencers is not just an option, it’s a core strategy for marketing success. This article shares statistics showing that influencer marketing ROIs are up to 11 times greater than banner ads and 92 percent of consumers trust online word-of-mouth recommendations over other ad formats.
To make influencer marketing work effectively, consider these three key considerations:
- High levels of community engagement are more important than raw follower count in selecting the right influencers for your brand.
- Expertise and relevant experience with your product or service creates authority and trust, leading to conversions.
- Cross-platform content creation has a significant impact on revenues. An influencer with 2-3 social media accounts could bring in up to three times more revenue than a creator with only one account.
Read the full article for more details.
Miss the previous newswire? Stay informed: Loyalty Newswire – October 24, 2022
The Loyalty Newswire is compiled and edited by the hard-working, customer-centric, data-driven staff at The Wise Marketer.
