Card-Linking Transaction Loyalty Sees Surge

It appears that more and more consumers are getting better connected with loyalty programs by linking their cards to them.

Yesterday (March 24), the CardLinx Association released new data from the 2016 Annual Card-Linking Industry Survey showing that 50 percent of respondents (consisting of merchants, payment companies, publishers and card-linked technology companies) reported a 50 percent growth in card-linking transactions over the last 12 months.

Sharing that, by comparison, in last year’s survey the majority of respondents reported 10 percent growth in the same consumer behavior, CardLinx posits that consumer interest in card-linking offers and loyalty programs has been bolstered by consumers’ increased level of comfort in using smartphone-enabled technology, such as mobile wallets and digital coupons.

“Card-linking has a network effect, and it is accelerating,” stated Silvio Tavares, CardLinx president and CEO, in a press release. “Merchants and brands have poured more money into marketing and social media campaigns for card-linking, attracting more consumers. This, in turn, is bringing more payments and FinTech companies into the industry that are developing new, innovative platforms to widen card-linking’s appeal to even more consumers.”

The release goes on to share additional data from the 2016 Annual Card-Linking Industry Survey, including that more than 60 percent of respondents believe that card-linking has the potential to become a $10 billion industry and that the earliest adopters of card-linking are found in the merchant categories of restaurants, department stores and clothing/apparel companies.