What are card-linked offers?

Card linked offers are automated rewards that consumers receive when they make eligible transactions with their payment card. Also called payment-linked rewards, these offers are deployed as part of a customer engagement or loyalty program.

Card-linked offers are automated rewards that consumers receive when they make eligible transactions with their payment card, usually deployed as part of a customer engagement or loyalty program.

It works like this: a consumer taps their card at a retailer’s point of sale terminal. Automatically, they receive a reward, which might take the form of cash back, additional loyalty points, or a donation to their nominated charity.

In the broader loyalty landscape, card-linked offers are particularly attractive to consumers because of their lower effort to reward ratio. Because the payment method is the key to the loyalty transaction, there’s often no perceivable friction from the consumer’s point of view. Unsurprisingly, data from the US tells us that 73% of card users prefer to use a card that can provide them with linked offers.

Payment-linked offers: an emerging trend

It’s not just cards, either. A growing minority of what might have previously been called “card linked” offers have lately become “payment linked” instead, as payment technologies like Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), PayID, QR codes and even cryptocurrencies continue to gain ground in Australia and across the rest of the world.

According to the Reserve Bank of Australia, this change is a generational shift, so it’s likely here to stay, and users of alternative payment technologies is a cohort that will grow over time. For example, by 2022, more than 40 per cent of adults under forty had used some kind of BNPL service.

For operators of card linked offers technologies, it’s well worth keeping an eye on this broader fintech ecosystem.