The Loyalty Newswire from The Wise Marketer
This edition covers: Basket Size, CLMP™ Workshop, Celero Commerce, Deluxe, Digital Wallets, Elavon, Geo Location, GHA Discovery, Leal Hub, Lowe’s, Millennial Payment Habits, Scooter’s Coffee, Snipp Interactive, Snoonu, Wyndham
FROM THE EDITOR
The big news for this community is that CLMP™ professional education is coming to Mexico City in October. Leal Hub, the official training partner of the Loyalty Academy, will be hosting this interactive workshop and you’ll hear more about it in the weeks to come.
We’ve been looking at Super Apps around the world and just discovered one in Kuwait via a new announcement.
We also saw GHA Discovery, Scooter’s Coffee and Snipp Interactive gaining industry recognition in their respective categories.
And we include news on digital wallets, Millennial choice in payment solutions and location-based marketing – all topics which benefit how loyalty marketers can successfully engage their customer base.
Bill Hanifin, Managing Editor — The Wise Marketer
SHORT TAKES
- [AU] 78% of Australian Consumers Wouldn’t Care if Most Brands Disappeared Tomorrow
- [Europe] Mobile App “Zakhyst+” Offers Loyalty Discounts and Support Services for War Veterans
- [LAC] The Fintech Landscape of Central America: Guatemala in 2026
- [PH] Philippine National Bank Enables Google Pay for Its Mastercard-Backed Credit Cards
- [US] CSP Ranks 20 Great Coffee Programs for 2026
- [US] How Do Millennials Choose to Pay? The Millennial Payments Playbook
- [US] Pizza Factory Selects PAR Technology’s Unified Platform to Power Operations and Digital Growth
FEATURED STORIES
Certified Loyalty Marketing Training™ Workshop Coming to Mexico City
Leal Hub, the leading customer loyalty and strategy consultancy in Mexico, is hosting a CLMP™ workshop with the Loyalty Academy in Mexico City on 21 & 22 October. This is the credential that distinguishes professionals who design and lead customer strategies in B2C and B2B markets. An important professional development opportunity for loyalty practitioners in the region.
Snipp Interactive Named in Gartner 2026 Market Guide for Loyalty Program Vendors
Snipp Interactive has been named a Representative Vendor in the Gartner 2026 Market Guide for Loyalty Program Vendors in the Mult solution Vendor category. The Gartner Market Guide evaluates providers across the loyalty technology landscape, identifying those serving enterprise brands with integrated solutions for customer acquisition, engagement, and retention. The recognition positions Snipp among a select group of vendors meeting enterprise-scale loyalty needs.
Super App Snoonu (Kuwait) Launches Royal Club
Snoonu has launched Royal Club, the first built-in loyalty program by a super app in Kuwait, designed around how members actually live and order. Members earn one coin per Kuwaiti dinar spent, progressing through five tiers where loyalty translates into luxury — exclusive access to free delivery, automotive discounts, hotel stays, dining offers, wellness perks, and a birthday gift. A notable example of super-app loyalty design outside the major Western and Asian markets.
Lowe’s Introduces Exclusive Live Music Benefits and Experiences for Loyalty Members
Lowe’s is bringing MyLowe’s Rewards and MyLowe’s Pro Rewards members exclusive live music experiences through a new multi-year partnership with Live Nation. Members can access exclusive concert perks throughout the season and enter sweepstakes for a chance to win free tickets all year long. The move represents an increasingly common strategy of layering lifestyle benefits onto retail loyalty programs to deepen emotional connection beyond transactional rewards.
Wyndham and Barclays Launch Updated Credit Card Suite
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and Barclays have reimagined the full Wyndham Rewards credit card lineup, adding new value across consumer and business cards while debuting the new Earner® Premier Card. The updated suite expands earning power — up to 8X points on Hotels by Wyndham — while offering high-demand benefits including Member Level upgrades, booking discounts, statement credits, Points Payback, and discounted award nights.
Scooter’s Coffee® Ranked by Yelp as a Fastest Growing Brand for Third Straight Year
Scooter’s Coffee® was recognized as a top-ranked coffee company and placed 13th overall among the top 15 brands nationwide in Yelp’s 2026 Top 50 Fastest Growing Brands report — the third consecutive year earning this recognition. The distinction reinforces Scooter’s position as a rising force in the competitive specialty coffee segment, where customer experience and loyalty program execution increasingly drive franchise growth.
GHA Discovery Tops List of Readers’ Choice Best Hotel Loyalty Programs in 2026
GHA Discovery topped the list of the 10 best hotel loyalty programs in Asia Pacific, as ranked by readers of Travel + Leisure Luxury Awards Asia Pacific 2026. The recognition highlights GHA Discovery’s continued strength as a preferred hotel loyalty program among frequent travelers in the region, where the competitive landscape includes programs from major global chains. The full reader-voted list spans a range of program types and property tiers.
Deluxe to Acquire Celero Commerce, Accelerating Transformation Toward Payments and Data Solutions Scale
Deluxe has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Celero Commerce, an integrated payment processing partner serving small to mid-sized businesses and strategic partners. The combination is designed to modernize Deluxe’s payment technology infrastructure, bring together complementary go-to-market capabilities, and expand customer reach through a broader network of bank, software, and independent sales channels. The deal signals continued consolidation in the payments-adjacent loyalty infrastructure space.
Elavon Expands All-In-One Payments Platform Across North America to Power Integrated Commerce
Elavon, a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Bank, has announced the expansion of its All-In-One payments platform across North America, helping businesses deliver more seamless commerce experiences in-store, on mobile, and online. The expanded platform combines Elavon’s payments infrastructure with a growing ecosystem of technology partners, giving merchants a more unified way to manage payments and operations — a foundation increasingly relevant to loyalty program integration at point of sale.
How Location Intelligence Is Enhancing Retail CX
Retailers seeking to increase conversion and basket size are turning to location intelligence to optimize high-traffic zones across their physical footprint. The opportunity: improving revenue per visitor and finding more effective ways to monetize foot traffic across brick-and-mortar locations. The challenge is that many physical retail channels still operate with limited visibility into how customers actually move and engage in-store — a gap that location intelligence tools are beginning to close.
7 Effective Strategies for Increasing Grocery Basket Size
For grocers looking to grow sales without growing square footage, basket size may be the metric worth watching most closely. This piece argues that the biggest opportunity in grocery is helping existing customers buy one more item per visit — and offers seven practical strategies to make that happen. A useful read for loyalty program managers thinking about how rewards design and personalization can directly influence basket-level behavior.
World Bank Issues New White Paper: Digital Wallets — A New Paradigm
The World Bank has released a white paper providing a conceptual and architectural framework for understanding digital wallets, verifiable credentials, and their role in transforming digital identity, data sharing, electronic signing, and digital payments. The paper also highlights risks and challenges that implementers must address as these ecosystems grow. For loyalty practitioners, the implications are significant: as wallets evolve into identity and commerce hubs, program integration and offer visibility at the wallet layer will become a strategic priority.
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