NRF Retail’s Big Show – With the goal to increase the value and usability of loyalty points, Verifone (NYSE: PAY), a global leader in payments and commerce solutions, and FIS (NYSE: FIS), a global leader in financial services and payment technology, announced a collaboration to enable consumers to pay with loyalty points linked to their credit or debit cards at the point-of-sale (POS). Verifone developed a new application called Verifone Points Redemption which connects to the FIS Premium Payback Network to provide a quick, secure, and easy way for third party loyalty programs to participate. Merchants will be able to download the free app to their device from the open, cloud-based Verifone Commerce Platform and eligible cardholders only need to swipe, dip or tap their card at a participating retailer, to pay for their purchases with points.
“We are helping merchants and consumers realize the value of loyalty programs by bringing points redemption to the shopping experience right where it counts—at the checkout,” said Glen Robson, executive vice president, Head of Verifone Solutions. “With FIS’ loyalty solution accessible through the cloud on our devices, merchants have a simple way to enhance the checkout experience by offering their customers immediate savings on in-store purchases using points.”
Research shows that every year up to $16 billion in loyalty points are left unused or forgotten. FIS’ Premium Payback has shown the ability to combat that, however. In fact, nearly one of five Premium Payback users have said they selected merchants based on the ability to use their reward points.
“Today’s consumers have been digitally empowered and expect tomorrow’s payment and rewards capabilities today,” said Bruce Lowthers, executive vice president, FIS Global Retail Payments. “The single integration point to brick-and-mortar retailers uniquely helps loyalty programs increase member touch points, while our relationship with Verifone expands the reach to bring scalable loyalty points redemption to many more consumers.”
When a shopper presents a loyalty-linked card payment on a Verifone device, it will prompt them automatically when enough points are available to pay for their items, eliminating the hassle of vouchers or ordering gift cards. The yes or no prompt is quick and easy and specifically designed not to slowdown the checkout process. The connection between Verifone and FIS is being powered by Modo’s COIN operated Digital Payments Hub.
