Banking Software Innovations

I know it's tempting... but loyalty programs don't have to be the default paint-by-numbers points, tiers, and refer-a-friend. Here are four interesting loyalty plays that have caught my eye in the past week. Adore Beauty Group changed its program from Adore Society to Adore Rewards to move beyond being online-only. Surprise, surprise, it included a quarterly gift box, but the differentiator to the MECCA Brands loyalty masterclass is that customers get to choose their products rather than it being a mystery. McDonald's partnered with Snap Inc. to allow MyMcDonald's users to redeem points for a month of Snapchat+. It's the first time they've done a digital subscription redemption. Very smart lifestyle integration and huge trial opportunity for Snapchat+. Costco Wholesale upgraded its top-tier Executive Membership. It costs $120 USD, but Executive customers can access the store one hour earlier than other customers and an hour later on Saturday. Plus 2% cash back. A brilliant combination of convenience with middle-class exclusivity. Walmart rewarded pre-orders of the Nintendo Switch by ensuring all orders were delivered by 9am on launch day... and included surprise Pringles and Cokes. At such a heightened and anticipated moment, that retailer has left an deep emotional footprint. So next time you think loyalty, don't settle for ordinary. Put yourself in your customers' shoes. Think outside of the normal. Create lasting value and impactful moments. Don't expect to turn tech on and loyalty to happen. If worse comes to worst... add Pringles to all orders.

Congrats to Joe Lu ✈️ and his team at HeyMax on raising US$11M to unify Asia's fragmented travel loyalty ecosystem. The round was lead by Peak XV Partners and is a signal that investors are betting big on infrastructure-layer solutions for the region's rapidly growing travel economy. The fragmentation problem they're solving If you're a frequent traveller in Asia-Pacific, you know the pain: points scattered across airline programs, hotel chains, credit cards, and merchants. Different expiry rules. Complex transfer ratios. Blackout dates. Value left on the table. HeyMax is building the connective layer to solve this. Founded in 2023 by four former Meta engineers, the platform aggregates loyalty earning and redemption across ecosystems using its own currency, Max Miles. Users earn across merchants and cards, then redeem across 30+ airline and hotel programs or convert to flights, hotels, and gift cards. The traction is impressive Since their US$2.7M seed round in July 2024: → 150,000+ users → 500M+ Max Miles issued annually → US$6M annualized revenue (5x YoY growth) → Acquired Hong Kong fintech krip for market entry Why this matters for APAC The regional loyalty market is projected to hit US$60 billion by 2029, yet over 75% of consumers struggle with fragmented programs. APAC passenger traffic now exceeds 120% of pre-pandemic levels. As Peak XV's Rohit Agarwal put it: "More than 40% of global card revenues, over US$100 billion, are spent on loyalty and rewards. HeyMax is using technology to turn that spend into actual consumption." What's ahead Expansion into Japan, Taiwan, and Australia by end-2026, plus deeper partnerships across airlines, hotels, and card issuers. Their AI features position them as programmable infrastructure for regional loyalty flows. The shift from "loyalty as branding" to "loyalty as infrastructure" is happening. This is worth watching. https://lnkd.in/gVA_FGDs

I analyzed 100+ loyalty programs in the last 30 days. Most brands still run loyalty like it’s 2009: Earn points, get a discount, repeat. The top 10%? They’re using loyalty to change behavior- not just reward it. If I were Head of Loyalty at a $10B+ brand today, here’s exactly what I’d do to build a program that drives LTV, repeat purchases, and real retention: 1. Stop Giving Away Loyalty - Make Them Pay for It Costco, RH, Barnes & Noble. When customers pay upfront, they buy in - literally and psychologically. Forget free points. Paid memberships = commitment, retention, higher LTV and emotional sunk cost. 2. Make Loyalty Required, Not Optional - Integrate Directly into Payments Starbucks preloads!!! When rewards are embedded in how people pay, behavior shifts faster, and for longer. This is probably the biggest opportunity in loyalty right now. 3. Forget Delayed Points - Instant Gratification is More Important Immediate dopamine beats theoretical future savings. Slow accumulation = slow engagement. Instant offers = repeat behavior. The 2nd purchase matters more than the 10th. 4. Make Loyalty Emotional, Not Transactional REI, North Face, Sephora. Customers want to belong, not just save. Identity, community, and shared values are outperforming cashbacks and discounts in driving long-term loyalty. Loyalty isn’t just a discount strategy, it’s a brand strategy. 5. Invest in Status + Experiences, not Generic Perks This isn't just theory – with companies like Rapha and Lululemon offering loyalty members exclusive product drops, community events and behind-the-scenes experiences. Lean into waitlists and exclusive product drops. Less financial. More status + psychological “being in the club.” 6. Reward Engagement, Not Just Transactions MoxieLash, Pacifica, Lucy & Yak. UGC. Reviews. Referrals. Loyalty now means participation. The modern flywheel starts before checkout - and lasts far beyond it. ~~ Bottom line? If your loyalty program is still playing a game from 15 years ago, your customers are going to find better options. Today, the best brands in 2025 aren’t just rewarding loyalty- they're engineering it. PS: We analyzed 100+ programs across QSR, retail, travel, and fintech. Next week I’ll share the Top 30 loyalty programs leading the way. Stay tuned🙏

Pepkor didn't just get a banking licence. They got permission to turn 6,000 stores into bank branches. Without building a single branch. Here's the background; Pepkor Holdings Limited, the company behind PEP, Ackermans and several other retail brands, received regulatory approval from the Prudential Authority to operate as a bank in South Africa. They also acquired CloudBadger, a fintech platform, to run the digital infrastructure. And they put former Investec Bank CEO Richard Wainwright on the board to bring banking expertise. Full details expected in March. But here's the part most people are missing. This is not a banking play. This is a loyalty play disguised as a banking play. Think about it. Millions of customers already walk into PEP and Ackermans stores every week. For nappies. For school uniforms. For basics. Now those same customers can save, borrow, pay bills and deposit cash. Same store. Same visit. Pepkor Lifestyle already has the data on what people buy, how often, and what they prefer. Add banking behaviour to that, and you know how people save, how they manage cash, and when they're under pressure. That is a loyalty signal most banks would pay millions for. Pepkor gets it for free. Now imagine rewards built on top of that. Not lucky draws. Not discounts. Fee credits for consistent savers. Interest boosts for hitting milestones. Micro-loans triggered by buying patterns. Store benefits driven by banking behaviour. Banking perks driven by store spend. That's a loop. Not a loyalty card. This is what it looks like when a brand stops chasing customers and starts serving them where they already are. Most loyalty programs reward transactions. This one can reward a whole financial life. If you're designing rewards or running loyalty in Africa, pay attention. The game just changed.

Points don’t build loyalty anymore. We’ve watched kids earn digital badges, redeem rewards, and move on without remembering who gave them.  The transaction is too shallow to stick. Experiential loyalty programs work differently.  They create memories. When kids can test, play, or co-create with a brand, the connection lasts longer than any discount or freebie.  They don’t just “collect” points; they belong to something. The most effective programs we’ve built have: - 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥-𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 tied to the reward (events, challenges, access) - 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 that feels like a journey, not a punch card - 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟: kids share what they 𝘥𝘪𝘥, not what they earned Loyalty today isn’t earned through repetition.  It’s earned through meaning. If the program doesn’t make them feel part of something bigger, the points won’t matter.

Most of the cannabis industry looks inward for loyalty ideas. But there's a lot of value in looking outside. Some of the most interesting loyalty strategies right now aren't happening in dispensaries. They're all in mainstream retail. Take Starbucks. They recently updated their rewards program and it reminds me of what I've done previously in loyalty redesigns. They've dialed back the perks to make it more financially viable for them. It got harder to earn the high-value rewards, but the genius is in how they're now giving members smaller and more frequent perks so people feel like they're getting more, not less. On the surface, that feels like a downgrade. It's actually a pretty common move. And most customers aren't doing the math on point value. They're responding to how the program feels to them. Another example? Paid loyalty. Think Amazon Prime or Costco memberships. There aren't points, or a complicated earning structure. Just clear value in the way of access, convenience, and exclusive benefits because they're members. Costco members often don't think about "earning rewards." They know they're paying for exclusive access. We’re starting to see versions of these ideas in cannabis, but we’re still early. I'll shout from my soapbox about this all day: Loyalty isn't just rewards. Over everything, it's about influencing customer behavior. And when you look at what's working outside the industry, it's worth asking: are we designing programs that are easy to rinse and repeat, or are we designing them based on what actually changes how customers come back?

💡 Loyalty & Payments: The Iceberg Effect What most people see about loyalty + payments innovation is just the tip of the iceberg and is limited to points, rewards, and seamless checkouts. But beneath the surface lies the real game-changer: the technology and data capabilities that will transform adoption over the next few years. 🔹 Above the waterline (What’s visible): 1. Earn and burn mechanics 2. Co-branded cards 3. Instant offers and discounts 4. Mobile wallet integration 🔹 Below the waterline (What’s hidden but powerful): 1. Tokenised payment data driving hyper-personalisation 2. Real-time earn-and-burn across open and closed loop systems 3. AI-driven predictive engagement based on spend behaviour 4. Invisible loyalty (benefits that “just happen” without scanning cards or apps) 5. Embedded loyalty in BNPL, micro-payments, and cross-border payments 6. Zero-party data strategies ensuring privacy while deepening insights 🎯Why it matters: The hidden innovations will change the face of adoption by making loyalty effortless, integrated, and rewarding in real time. When customers don’t have to think about loyalty and they just experience it, the barriers to engagement vanish. We’re heading into an era where loyalty is not an add-on to payments… it’s inside them. And the iceberg is starting to turn over. #loyaltyandpayments #engagement #icebergeffect #loyaltyecosystem #memberexperience

⚠️ Loyalty programs are adding a second currency: points for predictions, not just purchases. ⚠️ This isn’t about rewarding spending. It’s about rewarding what customers say they’ll do—before they do it. Most programs still run on receipts. Points for purchases, discounts for repeat visits. But receipts only tell you what happened. They don’t tell you why. Here’s what changes when you reward predictions: • Customers willingly tell you their next move—no survey, no guesswork. • A football fan betting on a match reveals more about their preferences than a month of grocery receipts. • A trader predicting market moves gives you a real-time signal on risk appetite and product interest. • A shopper forecasting a product launch tells you which features they actually care about. The real lever isn’t prediction. It’s intent. Customers who declare their plans aren’t just more engaged—they’re more predictable. Audit your redemption flow. If the only way to earn is to spend, you’re missing half the signal. Add a prediction layer: sports, stocks, product launches. Let customers bet on what matters to them—and watch the data roll in. In MENA, where sports and trading drive high engagement, this isn’t a stretch. It’s a natural fit for banks and telcos looking to turn passive members into active participants. Which loyalty process would you redesign first if latency weren’t a constraint?

"Points for purchases" is killing your brand. That's what Phil C., CEO of Upzelo, told me during our recent Chew On This episode. And after seeing the data from 4,000+ brands, I believe him. Here's what's actually working in loyalty and retention → Phil's journey is fascinating. Before Upzelo, he built the world's largest fitness platform with a 1.45% churn rate. Now he's helping brands reimagine loyalty programs. What he taught us: While most DTC brands are still playing the points game, they're bleeding customer value and watching CAC skyrocket. Instead, here are 3 strategies to ensure your loyalty program brings value to your customers and your brand: 1. Stop Chasing Transactions Traditional approach: Points for purchases Modern approach: Reward customer success Phil shared how one UK brand connected health data to their loyalty program. Every workout became a reason to engage, not just every purchase. 2. Meet Customers in Real Life Your customers don't live inside your Shopify store. One of Phil's clients, a motorcycle gear company, built their entire program around Saturday group rides. The result? 3,500 new program members in 3 weeks. No email blasts. No ads. Just organic sharing between riders. 3. Measure Real Impact Drop these vanity metrics: - Program signups - Points earned - Reward redemptions Instead, track what drives growth: - Purchase frequency - Category adoption - Real-world sharing 4. Goal achievement At Obvi, we're already seeing the impact of this approach. When we shifted from points-based rewards to focusing on customer fitness goals and results, our retention impact transformed. The Big Revelation → The best loyalty programs don't feel like programs at all. They feel like a natural extension of why customers chose you in the first place. Want to build real loyalty in 2024? Stop trying to buy it with points.  Start earning it by helping customers succeed. Huge thanks to Phil Carr for sharing these insights from his work with over 4,000 brands. Want the full playbook? Check out our Chewonthis DTC episode where we break down: - Moving beyond transactional loyalty - Building retention through real-life connections - Measuring what actually drives growth

This century-old company built a generational brand selling milk door-to-door, but now sells something completely different... Back in 1919, the Kemp family started Cloverland Dairy delivering milk door-to-door in Baltimore. No fancy credentials. No corporate backing. Just a simple belief: treat customers like family. When refrigeration killed home delivery in the 1950s, most dairies died. The Kemps made a contrarian bet: pivot to retail. 1959: First "White Jug" store opened. Small dairy shop, massive neighborhood impact. 1968: The game-changing merger. Cloverland absorbed Royal Dunloggin Dairy. Royal Farms was born as the new regional empire. 1980s: They added to their menu what they are now known for best: fresh, never-frozen fried chicken. While gas stations sold "12-day-old heat lamp nightmares," Royal Farms went all-in on made-to-order quality. 2017: Their loyalty program was ready for transformation... Most convenience stores reward spending. Royal Farms rewards behavior and community impact. The new ROFO Rewards model: 2 points per dollar in-store, 1 point per gallon at pump, plus instant 10-cent fuel discounts. But here's the real genius: 2018 Chickenpalooza campaign. Not just rewards - they embedded charity into every transaction. Every $5 chicken box = automatic donation to local charities. The results were epic: - American Marketing Association Runner-Up Campaign of the Year - $100,000 raised for Johns Hopkins Children's Center - Food and Wine "best fast-food fried chicken" award The psychology was brilliant: make customers feel like community heroes with every purchase. While franchised chains battle inconsistent experiences and owner conflicts, Royal Farms' family-owned model plus loyalty obsession equals unstoppable growth. The lesson? In a world obsessed with franchise scale, sometimes staying family-owned and staying in control wins bigger. Response Labs is using the next generation of tools and data to deliver personalized messaging at scale - including paid media. Follow me at Dan Dawes for more stories on CRM & loyalty marketing.