This week's Customer Loyalty and Digital Marketing News
From the Editor
World Loyalty Giving Day is this week - December 3
World Loyalty Giving Day is an opportunity for loyalty program members to donate loyalty points, miles, stars, anything, to a worthy cause of their choice.
Building on the vision of Brian Almeida, Founder of Points for Good, World Loyalty Giving Day will take place tomorrow, the same day as Giving Tuesday.
Depending on where you live, you can donate points through one of these channels:
If you operate a loyalty program, please let your members know about the opportunity to donate their points/miles/stars/anything to the cause of their choice.
Please continue to build awareness by posting the World Loyalty Giving Day landing page, using hashtags
- #DonateYourLoyaltyPointsDay
- #DYLPD
At The Wise Marketer, we are ALL IN FOR GOOD. Will you join us?
Global News Roundup
- [Global] Cyber-attacks expose flaws in cashless ambitions in Norway, Sweden, Israel
- [Global] Couche-Tard is taking the high road on takeover of Seven & i Holdings
- [EMEA] Network International partners with Ant International for wallet technology solutions
- [US] Total online Black Friday sales exceeded $10B, up more than 10% from last year
- [US] Overview of Texas Roadhouse's VIP Club
- [US] Paypal amps up ad campaigns for 5% cashback program
BNB launches loyalty program to reward customers
Bhutan National Bank (BNB) launched a first-of-its-kind Loyalty Programme, designed to reward customers for their continued trust and engagement with the bank yesterday. This initiative underscores BNB’s commitment to enhancing customer experience, recognizing the vital role its customers play in the bank’s success.
The Loyalty Programme rewards customers for a variety of transactions completed through BNB’s digital platform, mPay. You can read the FAQ’s here and watch this overview video to learn more. Customers can earn points for QR payments, ATM withdrawals, POS transactions, Internet Banking, Agency Banking, and Payment Gateway activities. Unique features such as Cashback Quest allow customers to collect rewards for using mPay services, including Mobile Recharge, Tour Payments, Loan Repayments, and EduPay transactions.
EU Commission adopts technical standards for digital ID wallets
The European Commission has adopted technical standards for the European Digital Identity Wallets as part of the European Digital Identity Framework. The European Digital Identity Wallets initiative is about the collaboration between the EU and member states to materialize a project that contributes to the digital transition in a substantial way.
The standards aim to ensure interoperability, security, and privacy across member states. The regulations also establish a certification framework to ensure the wallets are secure and protect users’ personal data. Examples of using digital wallets include opening a bank account, proving one’s age, renewing medical prescriptions, renting a car, or showing airline tickets.
Chick-fil-A awards customer for accruing 500,000 loyalty points
Craig Mason lives in Bangor Maine and made his first visit to the Bangor Chick-fil-A about a year after it first opened in 2016. He became a frequent diner for very personal reasons as he shared “My wife and I are both workaholics. We work long hours and neither of us cook. So, we came to Chick-fil-A once, and we just loved it,” loyal Chick-fil-A customer Craig Mason said.
Since then, he’s earned thousands of loyalty points, over 500,000 to be exact. By accruing 500,000 points, Mason has joined a club of less than 200 very loyal Chick-fil-A customers. Store owner Todd Schultz noticed the high value customer and said “Well, we have to do something to recognize him”. What did the restaurant do to recognize Mason? He and his wife were invited to the restaurant where they were presented with a plaque. A plaque? Really? What would you have done to recognize this high value customer?
Complete your entry for the International Loyalty Awards NOW
The 14th Annual International Loyalty Awards are officially underway. This year’s event features an expanded program with fantastic new categories like Global Loyalty Program of the Year, SME Categories, Industry-Specific Categories, and Best Global Strategic Partnership.
ILA has added over 25 new judges to the panel, adding even more depth, expertise, and diversity to the process. The Wise Marketer is a media partner with ILA and both Bill Hanifin and Aaron Dauphinee will be serving as judges. You can find full details on categories and entry criteria here.
Wendy’s launches first loyalty app in the UK
US fast food chain Wendy’s has opened 33 outlets across the UK since opening its first site in Oxford Street in London in 1980. It opened 32 of those outlets from 2021 to 2024. Now, it has introduced a new loyalty app for the first time in the UK.
The mobile app promises customers a “VIP experience,” including skipping queues at drive-thrus, dining in, or when collecting orders. It will also feature offers and deals, including bogofs and money off the final bill. The app launch in the UK coincided with Black Friday.
ANZ partners with DataCo to launch a customer insights proposition
ANZ announced it has entered into a strategic partnership with DataCo, the first commercialized business to launch through its external innovation and investment partner, 1835i, as part of a venture studio model that was established to drive value for ANZ, its customers, and its partners.
The partnership allows for de-identified customer and transactional data to be aggregated to produce rich insights for businesses through DataCo’s data collaboration platform, helping them perform targeted analysis, uncover spending trends, and identify strategic growth opportunities.
Beauty Brand 100% Pure growing through Personalization and Mobile First Engagement
100% PURE™ operates with a commitment to producing the purest, healthiest products and educating everyone on why being 100% PURE™ is so important. Their mission is to strive to live with compassion, kindness, and empathy; to be environmentally sustainable and to improve the lives of 6 billion people and animals while also being charitable and giving back to the global community.
The company attributes recent success to major factors: a strategic focus on personalization and mobile-first engagement. CEO and co-founder Richard Kostick told PYMNTS “Over 75% of our traffic now comes from mobile devices, and half of those interactions result in purchases ……. One-half of the purchases come from mobile devices, plus 75% of the traffic. I would say that is an inflection point when you’re over 50% of the purchases from a mobile device.”
I&M Bank Launches “I&M Milele Rewards” in Collaboration with Mastercard
I&M Bank, a leading commercial bank has enhanced its card loyalty offering with the introduction of ‘I&M Milele Rewards’, a program developed in collaboration with Mastercard. A spokesperson said the introduction of Milele Rewards signifies a significant evolution in I&M Bank's loyalty program, offering a more relevant and flexible rewards experience tailored to the evolving needs of its customers.
The new program builds on the success of the bank’s existing card loyalty initiative, which has been rewarding debit and credit cardholders for the past three years with cashback incentives on Point-Of-Sale (POS) and e-commerce transactions. The new program offers rewards for I&M Bank debit and credit cardholders, as the only bank in Kenya with a 100% payout (1:1 loyalty point to Kenya Shilling) conversion rate on reward points.
AMC Theaters Announces Updates to Stubs Loyalty Program
AMC announced important updates to its AMC Stubs Premiere™ membership, effective January 1, 2025. AMC Stubs Premiere Members will continue to earn points 5x faster than Insiders – with a $5 reward for every $50 spent and points never expire. They will also continue to offer benefits including waived online ticket fees for every purchase, free size upgrades on popcorn & fountain drinks, priority lanes at the theatre, a free large popcorn & fountain drink birthday gift, free refills on large popcorn, and Discount Tuesday ticket savings.
Latest changes include the opportunity to earn points through new interactive experiences, but the bigger news is that the annual membership fee will increase for the first time since 2015. The new annual membership price will now be $17.99+tax beginning January 1, 2025. The change will be reflected in the Member’s first billing date of 2025, which will be April 01, 2025. Members are offered the chance to lock in another 12 months at the current price of $15+tax if they act by December 31, 2024. Terms and Conditions are here.
Subscription Renewals Tied to Flexibility of Payment Options
32% of subscription businesses in emerging markets face involuntary churn due to unintentional cancellations. At the same time, 71% of businesses are seeking to expand their payment methods to better serve diverse subscriber needs and retain their existing customer base.
These statistics reveal a pressing challenge: without the right systems in place, subscription-based companies risk losing both revenue and customer loyalty. The key to overcoming this hurdle lies in streamlining payment processes and making them as frictionless as possible for users. Read this white paper from dLocal.
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