Loyalty program

Loyalty programs are structured marketing efforts that reward, and therefore encourage, loyal
buying behavior behavior which is potentially beneficial to the firm.
[1]



Various loyalty cards
In marketing generally and in retailing more specifically, a loyalty card, rewards card, points card,
advantage card, or club card is a plastic or paper card, visually similar to a credit card, debit card,
or digital card that identifies the card holder as a member in a loyalty program.
[2]
Loyalty cards are a
system of the loyalty business model. In the United Kingdom it is typically called a loyalty card, in
Canada a rewards card or a points card, and in the United States either a discount card, a club card
or a rewards card. Cards typically have a barcode or magistrate that can be easily scanned, some
are chip cards or proximity cards.
[3]
Small keying cards (also known as key tags) which serve as key
fobs are often used for convenience in carrying and ease of access.
By presenting the card, the purchaser is typically entitled to either a discount on the current
purchase, or an allotment of points that can be used for future purchases. Hence, the card is the
visible means of implementing a type of what economists call a two-part tariff. Application forms
usually entail agreements by the store concerning customer privacy, typically non-disclosure (by the
store) of non-data about customers. The store uses aggregate data internally (and sometimes
externally) as part of its marketing research. These cards can be used to determine, for example, a
given customer's favorite brand of beer, or whether he or she is a vegetarian. Where a customer has
provided sufficient identifying information, the loyalty card may also be used to access such
information to expedite verification during receipt of cheques or dispensing of medical
prescription preparations, or for other membership privileges (e.g., access to a club lounge in
airports, using a frequent flyer card).
Loyalty programs can be viewed as a form of centralized virtual currency, one with unidirectional
cash flow, since reward points can be exchanged into a good or service but not back into cash.
[4]

Contents
[hide]
.
By continent and country[edit]
North America[edit]
United States[edit]
In the U.S., several major supermarket and fish market chains and
the three major pharmacy chains
[5]
require the cards in order for
customers to receive the advertised loyalty price. These
include Smith's, Kroger and Safeway (each through both its own
name and many of its regional chain names), Menard's, Winn-
Dixie, Harris Teeter, Ingles, Giant Eagle, Tops, Price
Chopper, ShopRite, A&P and its related
chains Pathmark, SuperFresh and Waldbaums, Wegmans, Stop &
Shop and sister chains Giant-Carlisle and Giant-Landover, Rite
Aid, Walgreens and CVS/pharmacy. Many retailers allow
accumulation of fuel discounts. Some have tie-ins with
airline frequent-flyer programs, and some agree to donate a
percentage of sales to a designated charity. Most notably, Wal-
Mart does not have a loyalty card plan though anyone who
purchases a gift card can generally get a 3 cent discount per gallon
of gas at the fuel stations located on Wal-Mart premises.
[citation needed]

The practice is also common among book and music retailers, from
large chains to independent retailers. In some instances, the
customer purchases the card and receives a percentage discount
on all purchases for a period of time (often one year), while in other
instances, a customer receives a one-time percentage discount
upon reaching a specified purchase level. (For example, a
bookseller's loyalty card program might provide a customer with a
10% off coupon once the customer has spent $200 at the
bookseller.) Major retailers Best Buy and Sears offer loyalty
programs that offer points redeemable for dollar-amount discounts
after accumulating a set number of points along with other
discounts from time to time.
Independent hardware stores such as Ace Hardware and True
Value added customer loyalty programs in order to compete more
effectively against larger chains as well as gather customer data.
Ace's program also offers customers a way at the time of purchase
to get items at a price which would normally require completing a
mail in rebate. In addition, supply retailers Staples, Inc. and Office
Depot started issuing club cards in 2005, which offer rewards in the
form of credits towards future purchases on some or all items
purchased in the store or online (which items and how much credit
changes periodically).in
Almost all major hotel chains (Best Western, Choice Hotels, Holiday
Inn, Marriott, Super 8 Motels, etc.) have cards that allow guests to
earn either points (redeemable for discounts, future stays or other
prizes) or airline miles (Hilton's HHonorsprogram allows guests to
earn both points and miles on the same stay, the only program to
date that does so). All major US airlines also offer rewards credit
cards. Other travel related reward programs include SeaMiles, with
points that can be redeemed for cruises.
[citation needed]

For now, some American retailers have not implemented club
cards, including some grocery stores Whole Foods and ALDI.
Between 2007 and 2013, Albertson's, Shaw's, Acme Markets,
and Jewel-Osco (all owned by Albertsons LLC) eliminated their
loyalty cards in favor of discounts for all shoppers and targeting
inventory to particular neighborhoods.
[6]
In a few cases
(e.g., Federated Department Stores, Kohl's) this is because the
retailer already issues its own credit cards, and thus already has a
direct relationship with the consumers most likely to shop at its
stores.
Max & Erma's has a loyalty program called Good Neighbor
Rewards. Guests are rewarded based on their number of visits by
either 5%, 10%, or 15%. Additionally, guests are periodically given
additional rewards by way of free items added to their loyalty card
electronically.
Truck stop chain Pilot Travel Centers' program Driver Payback
Points rewards truck drivers for fueling up by giving them points that
can be used for purchase inside the store. Although it can be used
for general merchandise, the program is specifically targeted to be
redeemed at the restaurant chain located inside each location.
A few states regulate club cards. Supermarkets in California are
subject to the Supermarket Club Card Disclosure Act of 1999.
[7]

Prominent online loyalty programs include Mona Bar, Memo link,
My points, Fat Wallet, Perka, Belly, Vitacost
Rewards,
[8]
andSwagbucks.
[9][10]
Some online loyalty programs
focus on "other-directed" consumers including Upromise, School
pop, The BSP Rewards Network and iGive.com.
[11]

Several banks also have rewards programs, including three of
the Big Four banks of the United States Wells Fargo being the
lone exception, CapitalOne, and Citizens Financial Group. PNC
Financial Services launched a program in 2009 as a direct result of
its acquisition of National City Corp., which National City already
had, along with a mortgage division neither of which PNC had had
before the deal.
Recently, a lot of attention has been paid
[by whom?]
to the loyalty
programs due to companies like Foursquare, Cardmobili
and Shopkick providing new ways for consumers and businesses to
communicate. All three companies focus on using Smartphones
such as the Android and iPhone Foursquare partnered
with AMEX to provide Foursquare points when using an American
Express card,
[12]
and Shop kick partnered with Visa to provide Shop
kick points when using a Visa card at locations such as Best
Buy, Toys "R" Us or Old Navy.
[13]

Canada[edit]
The oldest loyalty program in Canada is Canadian Tire money, in
which the Canadian Tire company gives out coupons which look
like currency.
[14]
Air Miles is Canada's largest loyalty program Air
Miles
[citation needed]
can be earned at more than 100 different sponsors
and almost a thousand different rewards. Aeroplan began in 1984
as Air Canadas frequent flier program, but since 2008 has been
owned by Aimia Inc.
[15]
(previously Groupe Aeroplan Inc.) and
operates as a more widely based coalition program. Example of
companies that run their own programs include HBC Rewards/Club
Z, which began at Zellers in 1986 as Club Z; the PC Points program
for free groceries (from Loblaws), The Body Shop's Love Your Body
Card, Shoppers's Shoppers Optimum Card, Staples Business
Depot's easy Rewards Savings Card (formerly Dividends)
and Sobeys' Club Sobeys card. The plum rewards program is
Canada's largest loyalty program
[citation needed]
for reading enthusiasts,
offering everyday discounts and special coupons
at Chapters, Indigo Books and Music, Coles, Smith Books, the
World's Biggest Bookstore and chapters.indigo.ca. PetPerks
is PetSmart's reward program where members get a pre-
determined discount on any item in the store that displays a
PetPerks tag under the regular price tag. Vicinity is loyalty platform
for small business retailers that was launched in May 2013 by
Rogers Communications Inc.
[16]

Almost every gas station in Canada offers some sort of loyalty
program itself or in partnership. For example, Air Miles at Shell gas
stations, Esso Extra at Esso, Petro Points at Petro-Canada, Save-
On-More at some Chevron locations in BC, Canadian Tire money at
Canadian Tire gas stations, or a coupon that grants the customer
3.5 cents off per litre of fuel purchased at Sobeys Fast Fuel
locations that can be used at a Sobeys banner store. Loblaws
grants a 1.5/L coupon similar to Atlantic Superstore, and Real
Canadian Superstore that grants a 7/L (10.5/L in Manitoba)
coupon that can be used at their stores. Sunoco has a Performance
Points reward program.
Oceania[edit]
Australia[edit]
The largest loyalty program in Australia is flybuys, established in
1994 and owned by Coles.
[17]
It has more than 10 million
cardholders in over 5.5 million Australian households.
[18]
A
consumer study of Australian loyalty programs in 2013 showed fly
buys as easily the most popular program in Australia.
[19]
Rival
retailer Woolworths launched its Everyday Rewards fuel discount
card nationally in 2009 and by August 2010 had 5.1 million
cardholders, with 2.7 million linked to the Qantas frequent flyer
program.
[20]

Among other Australian retailers, the largest programs
are Myer's MYER one program (department store), the Priceline
Club Card (health, beauty, home), Amcal Club (pharmacy), Millers
Retail Club (apparel), and the BB Retail Capital (formerly Brazin
Limited) Pulse Rewards program (Virgin, HMV, Sanity, dusk, Bras n
Things, and SX sunglasses). Pulse has more than a million
members.
[21]

All major Australian banks offer credit cards with reward programs.
Many offer points collection with the Qantas frequent flyer program
or conversion to points for Virgin Australia's Velocity Rewards
program.
The largest online rewards program is Rewards Central.
[citation
needed]
Perkler is a website launched in Australia in August 2009
which lists 1,800 loyalty programs and their 280,000 associated
perks.
New Zealand[edit]
The largest loyalty program in New Zealand is Fly Buys.
[citation
needed]
Other significant programs include the New Zealand
Automobile Association AA Smart fuel programme
and Countdown supermarket's One card.
Europe[edit]
United Kingdom[edit]
The loyalty card market in the UK is one of the most significant in
the world, with most major chains operating some form
ofreward system. Passcard has been claimed to be the first reward
scheme or discount card, created around by Gary Wilson in
1981
[citation needed]
and later known as Passkey.
[22]
One of the first
loyalty cards backed by a major chain is believed to be the
Sainsbury's Homebase Spend and Save Card in 1982.
[23]

Of the "big four" supermarkets, only Sainsbury's and Tesco operate
loyalty cards for general supermarket shopping, and Morrisons
offers a scheme based around purchasing fuel from their filling
stations. Both Nectar and Tesco's Clubcard scheme have been
criticised for not offering value for money.
[24]
When Clubcard or
Nectar points are used for money off supermarket shopping, they
roughly equate to a 1% discount, although offers can increase this
discount by as much as 4 times for certain rewards. Some retailers
with banking operations also award points for every pound spent on
their credit cards, as well as bonus points for purchasing financial
services. A report in The Economist suggested that the real benefit
of loyalty cards to UK outlets is the massive database potential they
offer.
[25]

Morrisons operates "Morrisons Miles", whereby customers earn
vouchers based on fuel purchases.
[26]
Unusually, customers'
personal details are not collected so purchases appear not to be
tracked. Vouchers are delivered at point of sale.
After trials in 1994, Tesco launched its Clubcard program, the UK's
first nationwide supermarket-only loyalty card scheme, in 1995
with dunnhumby. Sainsbury's launched its Reward Card in 1996.
This was replaced by the Nectar card in 2002, which was launched
in partnership with other major brands.
Boots The Chemist first began planning a loyalty card in November
1993, but building a CRM-focussed loyalty program. With an
investment in excess of 30 million GBP, the Boots Advantage Card,
launched in 1997, is / was the largest smart card retail loyalty card
scheme in the world, and the third-largest retail loyalty scheme in
the UK in terms of cards issued.
[citation needed]
The Advantage scheme
currently has 16.4 million cardholders using the card online and in
store and at 3rd party retailers. The scheme gives a cardholder 4
points for every pound spent in a boots store under normal
shopping circumstances. Most stores have kiosks which can be
used in conjunction with the cards for "exclusive offers" which are
printed on vouchers and can be used at the till. These vouchers
enable money off specific purchases, extra points for specific
purchases, or money off or extra points when spending has reached
an amount specified on the voucher, or other offers such as double
points on either everything of specific products. For example, a
customer may get a voucher which provides 250 extra points when
they have spent 50 in one transaction. Points equal pence in store,
and can be spent at any time and on anything in store, providing the
card has enough points to cover the entire cost of the merchandise.
The patronage dividend rewarded the loyalty of the owner members
of Britain's retail consumer co-operatives since theRochdale
Pioneers of the 1840s. Paper record-keeping transformed in the
1960s into a trading stamp scheme managed by the Co-operative
Wholesale Society (CWS), which was gradually withdrawn as
margins declined. The loyalty card concept was used by some co-
operatives to restore dividend payments at the turn of the 21st
century, notably by the CWS's "Dividend" card, which was replaced
by The Co-operative Membership card program, adopted by several
larger co-operatives.
Safeway's ABC Card was discontinued in 2000.
[27]
Airlines, Hotels
and other loyalty schemes also offer cards. Marks and Spencer and
the John Lewis Partnership have credit cards which give vouchers
in return for spending, and do not issue separate loyalty
cards. GAME has a reward card scheme for which every pound
spent a customer is rewarded 10 points; for every 1000 points that
one collects, one gets 2.50 to redeem in the store, or online.
Preorders earn a customer 20 points per pound. HMV has a reward
card called purehmv which allows the customer to claim a variety of
rewards, including in-store discounts.
The UK's largest retail bookmaker Ladbrokes launched the Odds
ON! loyalty programme in late 2007, the first retail betting loyalty
scheme in Europe.
[citation needed]
Customers earn points on each bet
which can be redeemed for bonus jokers and free bets. Ladbrokes
Poker also operates a loyalty program for its online poker players
where players are able to exchange their poker points for gift &
prizes.
Maximiles
[28]
is an online coalition program claiming 1.6 million
members in the UK.
[29]
Maximiles also operates online programs in
France, Spain and Italy.
[29]

The opening of the first Best Buy store in the UK at Thurrock,
Essex, in 2010 - was accompanied by the launch of a customer
engagement program called My Best Buy. This was described as "a
tiered, digital loyalty and customer engagement program that is
designed to build a lifelong relationship with the customer by
providing a personalized experience through which they can
manage their digital and technology needs." However, this business
ceased trading in 2012: the 11 stores were closed in January, and
My Best Buy closed on February 29.
The Ice Organisation launched MyIce.com in 2010, a scheme which
rewards consumers for shopping in a more sustainable way. Ice's
mission is ultimately to promote greener goods and services to
mitigate climate change, and currently works with both national and
local retailers to encourage more local, sustainable consumerism.
Republic of Ireland[edit]
In the Republic of Ireland loyalty cards have been in operation since
1993, when Superquinn introduced its SuperClub loyalty card
scheme. This is regarded as having been the prototype for such
schemes in Europe. However, loyalty cards did not expand until
1997, when Tesco Ireland introduced its Clubcard scheme, shortly
after its purchase of Power Supermarkets. This was essentially a
simple expansion of the UK scheme (see above) cards for this are
physically identical to those used by Tesco in the UK and they can
be used in both countries. Dunnes Stores responded with the
introduction of their own ValueClub scheme in June 1997. Today
these are three main schemes operating in Ireland, although
ValueClub has been withdrawn from Dunnes' Northern
Ireland stores. Supervalue recently introduced their own loyalty club
called Real Rewards.
All five major petrol station chains in the country operated a scheme
during the late 1990s Esso had "Tiger Miles" (with Tesco
ClubCard points offered as an alternative), Maxol had "Points Plus",
both of which operated on the principle of getting items from a gift
catalogue, with Shell using Dunnes' scheme, Texaco using the
SuperQuinn system, and Statoil operating a cash-back system,
"Premium Club". Due to increasing oil prices and tightening of
margins, all of these schemes ended by the end of 2005. Tesco
Ireland's petrol stations still, however, give Clubcard points.
GAME, a major computer game and hardware retailer also operate
a cashback card scheme, which was merged withElectronics
Boutique's programme following the separation of their northern
European stores into the hands of GAME. The scheme returns one-
fortieth of the spend, more than twice as generous as Tesco.
Rewards From Us To You is a hotel loyalty program for
independent hotels in Ireland, England & Belgium. It was founded in
November 2011 by parent hotel management company PREM
Group, who is based in Dublin, Ireland. This program does not issue
loyalty cards but does everything electronically through email. This
company currently has 26 participating hotels and serviced
apartments. Guests earn points every time they stay with any hotel
in the club. Guests can later redeem free night stays or gift cards. In
addition to this all members receive exclusive perks for signing up
and staying at the hotel.
Germany[edit]
The largest loyalty program in Germany is Payback, which was
launched in 2000.
[citation needed]
According to a study in August 2007
by GfK,
[30]
61% of German households have a Payback card. It
listed the HappyDigits program as having a 42% share, with the
Shell ClubSmart program as third most popular with 13%. In March
2008, the coalition programDeutschlandCard was launched
by Arvato. As at March 2009 it had more than 4.5 million active
cardholders.
Russia[edit]
MALINA is the Russias coalition program.
[citation needed]
MALINA was
launded in 2006 by Loyalty Partners Vostok. MALINA is a loyalty
card scheme comprising partner companies including BP, Rosinter
Restaurants, Beeline, 36,6, Raiffeisenbank etc. MALINA program
operates in Moscow and St. Petersburg bring together over 25 well-
known brands. Over 6 million collectors earn MALINA point when
buying petrol, visiting restaurants, making phone calls. Malina card
is accepted at more than 1000 Partners POS. 6,096,051 Malina
cards were issued from 2006 to 2012. Turnover on Malina card
amounted to 1.5 billion dollars in 2012 (Malina card turnover
amounted to 1.5 billion dollars in 2012.)Over 2000 goods and
services are available for points in Malina catalog (or Points could
be redeemed for ordering over 2000 goods and services from
Malina catalog).
One more Russian loyalty program is Mnogo.ru. This project is fully
independent. Members of the club who own clubcards can gain
points in exchange for daily purchases made both online and offline
at partners' shops (from products to home appliances). A customer
receives points while answering the quiz, playing games and getting
special offers. Cumulative points can be exchanged for prizes from
the company's partners. Mnogo.ru has following advantages:
there are more than 3 000 000 members of the club
the company has been rewarding its members for the past 14
years
free membership
72 partners are leading Russian and international businesses
(eBay, Citibank, Moulinex, Electrolux, La Redoute etc.)
members of the club are offered to buy more than 1000 prizes
Switzerland[edit]
Loyalty programs are popular in Switzerland, with the two main
supermarket chains, Migros and Coop prominent. The M-Cumulus
card can be used at the Migros supermarkets, Ex Libris (books,
DVD's), SportXX, and other retailers. The Coop Supercard earns
points on purchases at Coop and a variety of other associated
stores. Other stores such as Interio, a furniture retailer, are also
joining the market with loyalty cards and store-based incentivised
credit cards. In recent years, online loyalty programs have also
started to target the Swiss. First to make an offering in Switzerland
was German-based Webmiles. Claiming to be Switzerland's first
online bonus program, Bonuspoints was launched in early 2008 and
offers incentives for shopping at 70 different online stores.
Italy[edit]
Loyalty programs are popular in Italy, with the two main
supermarket chains, Esselunga and Il Gigante, leading the field
with their offerings. Other stores such as Interio, a furniture retailer,
are also joining the market with loyalty cards and store-based
incentivised credit cards. Loyalty programs are also widely spread
in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry, where companies
use this powerful tool to establish long-lasting brand-consumer
relationships. The very first example of a loyalty program in the food
industry has been the 2008 "Lavazza Carmencita digital
collection" followed by many other Brands such as Barilla, Casa
Modena-Giravolte and Tena Lady of the Multinational Sca
Hygiene Products.
Hungary[edit]
Two coalition loyalty programs in Hungary are SuperShop and
Multipoint. SuperShop was established in April 2000 and is backed
by premium partners hu:SuperShop Spar, OBI, OMV, Photo
hall, Burger King.
Spain[edit]
VOIL Hotel Rewards launched in June 2008 with "Husa Plus]," a
co-branded loyalty program for Husa Hoteles.
[31]
The Husa Plus
program is currently offered at approximately 145 Husa Hotels,
primarily located in Spain. Barcelona-based online travel
agency Budgetplaces launched its loyalty programme in early 2011.
My budgetplaces lets clients earn credit every time they make a
reservation.
[32]

Turkey[edit]
Airline companies offer loyalty cards for passengers to provide
discount. Pegasus Airlines has a loyalty program called Pegasus
Plus which gives rewards for every flight. Passengers can spent
reward points as a discount without waiting to cover a full flight.
Finland[edit]
Loyalty programs are very popular in Finland. 80% of people are in
at least one loyalty program and over 50% are member of at least
two programs. Two major coalitions with loyaly programs operating
in multiple business sectors. These are S-Group with S-Etukortti
and Kesko with K-Plussa. These cards can be equipped
with Visa or MasterCard Debit / Credit payment features. Both
loyalty programs are being aggressively pushed to consumers. New
major player in Finnish and Baltic markets is Pins.
Asia[edit]
Hong Kong[edit]
Hong Kong offers many loyalty programs which include Octopus
Rewards, which started as a chip based smartcard for transport and
now, the Octopus cards can be used to earn points in certain shops,
including McDonald's and Wellcomesupermarket. Another loyalty
program is for travelling on the heavily patronaged (3.65
million/day) MTR railway system in Hong Kong, known as the MTR
Club. In terms of shopping or purchasing groceries, one can use the
MoneyBack card atPARKnSHOP supermarkets.
Iran[edit]
The first Iranian loyalty program launched in 1996 by Iran Credit
Card Group "Zarrin Card"(or Advantage Card).,
[33]
"East Credit Card
Group Kish" also launched loyalty cards since 2005 in
Iran.
[34]
These companies manage many brands in the same
platform, such as Iran Zoggs and Novin Leather. The Maadiran
Group has a loyalty programme.
Indonesia[edit]
Centro Friends card is a loyalty card for Shoppers of Centro
Department Stores. The Love Your Body card is the loyalty card for
The Body Shop stores in Indonesia. Other notable programs in Asia
include KrisFlyer, the Singapore Airlines rewards program.
India[edit]
Payback India (formerly i-mint) is India's largest coalition loyalty
program, with 12 million members,
[35]
over 30 partners and 3000
network partner outlets, with 120 billion INR of sales generated
through i-mint-cards in 2009.
[36]
German loyalty program operator
Loyalty Partner took a controlling interest in i-mint in June
2010
[36]
and renamed the program Payback India in July
2011.
[35]
Hero's GoodLife program claims over 10 million members.
BPCL's PetroBonus fuel card program has 2 million
members.
[37]
Indian Oil's fleet card program XTRAPOWER and
retail program XTRAREWARDS claim a combined customer base
of 3 million.
[38]
The Maruti Suzuki AutoCard, launched in association
with Citibank and Indian Oil had 370,000 cardholders as in October
2008.Kingfisher Airlines FFP King Club had 2 million members as in
October 2010. Shopper's Stop has been offering a loyalty
programme called First Citizen for well over a decade for regular
customers. Other retailers like Lifestyle (The inner Circle loyalty
Programme) & Reliance Retail also have their own loyalty
programs.
Debit card loyalty programs include State Bank Group's Freedom
Rewardz is perhaps the largest in the world with over 110 million
customers enrolled.
[citation needed]
The program is operated by Loylty
Rewardz. Pinpoint operates programs HSBC and Standard
Chartered Bank. The immense potential and sheer size of the
consumer base in India has already attracted players like Groupe
Aeroplan and Loyalty One into the country.
Malaysia[edit]
In Malaysia, the BonusLink program was introduced in a joint
venture between Shell, Parkson, Maxis and MBF. The BonusLink
program is coalition with earning and redemption partners allowing
members to earn points at a number of Malaysian retailers. Mesra
Card is for Petronas and its used for fuels and at the Mesra shop.
Genting Highlands Resort has its own loyalty
card, WorldCard (same as mentioned below) that is primarily used
to gain points in Genting Highlands' Resorts and Attractions.
However, it can also be used for Starbucks, Coffee
Bean and Hagen-Dazs and it is valid in three countries, namely
Malaysia (where Genting Group is based), Singapore and Hong
Kong. Juscoalso has its own loyalty card, known as Aeon Card.
In early 2008, ValueClub Marketing and Services Sdn. Bhd.
launched it V-Kad at North Malaysia especially in Penang state. V-
Kad has actively joint by various industries such as F&B, fashion,
saloon and optics. It provides V-Kad members to collect V-Points to
redeem gift and exchange services with the participating merchants.
Singapore[edit]
In Singapore, the three largest loyalty programs are
Plus, WorldCard (aggregate program of Genting Resorts, Suntec
City Mall, Star Cruises & Indigoz) and SAFRA Card. The LinkPoints
Programme has more than 1 million members and over 600
participating merchant outlets.
[citation needed]

Taiwan[edit]
The French retailer, Carrefour has recently introduced a new loyalty
scheme whereby customers can earn and redeem points for
purchases made in the store, and also earn additional points for all
purchases made using a Carrefour branded credit card. The largest
online rewards program in Taiwan is RewardsCentral (formerly
known as EmailCash).
[citation needed]

Shanghai[edit]
The Smartclub program allows all Shanghai residents to earn
SmartPoints free, each time they take the subway, bus, or taxi.
Those SmartPoints can be combined with points earned at
McDonald's, eLong, Sport100, cinemas, bookstores, and other
SmartClub partner retailers.
Program management[edit]
Across the globe loyalty programs are increasingly finding the need
to outsource strategic and operational aspects of their programs,
given the size and complexity a loyalty program entails. Program
managers are typically agencies with specialist skilled in loyalty
consulting, creativity, communication, data analytics, loyalty
software, and back end operations. The advent of Web
2.0 and SaaS online-based services has provided lower-cost
options for small businesses to offer and manage their own loyalty
programs. Moreover, there are many free and open source
alternatives to manage user awards and incentives.
Loyalty cards are becoming mobile (i.e. Cardmobili, Loopt,
and Nokadi).
[39]

On-line and mobile loyalty programs[edit]
Recently there has been a move away from traditional magnetic
card, stamp or punchcard based schemes to online and mobile
loyalty programs. While these schemes vary, the common element
is a push toward eradication of a traditional card, in favour of an
electronic equivalent. The choice of medium is often a QR code.
Some prominent examples are Austrian based mobile-pocket est
2009,
[40]
the US-based Punchd (discontinued from June 2013
[41]
),
which became part of Google in 2011.
[42]
and also an Australian-
based loyalty card application called Stamp Me
[43]
Others,
like Perka (US), Loyalli (UK) and Maze (Aus) have offered similar
programs.
[44]
Passbook by Apple is the first attempt to standardize
the format of mobile loyalty cards.
Disloyalty cards[edit]
In three cities, some independent coffee shops have set up
experimental 'disloyalty card' programs, which reward customers for
visiting a variety of coffee shops.
[45][46]

Criticism[ed

Companies complain that these loyalty programs discount goods to
people that are buying their goods anyway, and that the expense of
doing these programs rarely show a good return on the investment.
Other critics see the lower prices and rewards as bribes to
manipulate customer loyalty and purchasing decisions, or in the
case of infrequent-spenders, a means of subsidizing frequent-
spenders. Commercial use of the personal data collected as part of
the programmes has the potential for abuse. It is highly likely that
consumer purchases are tracked and analyzed towards more
efficient marketing and advertising; in fact, this can be one of the
purposes of the loyalty card. To some, participating in a loyalty
program (even with a fake or anonymous card) funds activities that
violate privacy.
[47]
There has also been concern expressed
regarding RFID technology being introduced to loyalty cards.
[48]

Loyalty and credit-card reward plans may be viewable as modern-
day examples of a kickback. An employee who needs to buy
something (such as a hotel room or an airline flight) for a business
trip, but who has discretion to decide which airline or hotel chain to
use, has an incentive to choose the payment method that provides
the most credit card rewards or loyalty points, instead of minimizing
cost for the organization.