This Forbes article, courtesy of Aneace, outlines some sobering facts regarding loyalty plans. Loyalty Programs Lose Points With Shoppers – Forbes.com The study also predicts that two-thirds of all retailers with an online presence will have a formal rewards program in place within a year, although there was no discernible difference in investment returns between companies that put resources into a formal rewards program and those that don’t. The key point is that there is no discernible difference to those having plans against those who do not. (emphasis mine) Segmenting return on investment for various retail companies as high (11% … Continue reading Do loyalty points make any difference?

This is the first part of a series that begins with 7 critical mistakes.  The first mistake for me is dead on, as the commoditisation of loyalty plans makes them less and less meaningful to consumers.  I would argue they still drive certain behaviours, such as which card to pull out first, but the the loyalty they create is fleeting.  Furthermore the benefits from the plans are really not that significant, when you translate them into dollars. Aneace’s Blog: Critical mistake #1: Focus on loyalty rather than the payment experience “Points for the sake of points is just buying off … Continue reading Aneace’s 5 key factors for a really successful EMV deployment

This is a most insightful article on Google Checkout from Om.  Worth reading is the piece on the implications for Yahoo, eBay, and Paypal. GigaOM : » Why Google Is Doing Checkouts? Going forward, the much talked about Google Payment system (the Paypal rival) could give them even more leverage and hurt rivals in the process. But in a larger scheme of things, it could be trivial. Why because for Google, the real advantage is not just to gain payments market share & revenue, but to increase AdWords sales and reduce click fraud through the creation of a fundamentally better … Continue reading Why Google Is Doing Checkouts?

Just picked up on this rather important nuance.  Debit cards are also accepted by Google Checkout.  Its also only US, although I am sure thats temporary.  So look out Certapay in Canada. Accept payments through Google – Terms of Service Payment Instrument: The credit card or debit card that is registered by a Customer with the Service to facilitate the processing of Payments Transactions. The Payment Instrument must be associated with a billing address in the United States. Relevance to Bankwatch: Banks must not continue to ignore the payments space.  Transaction revenue and balance loss are at stake as payment … Continue reading Google checkout is debit card too

Google has quietly launched their Checkout product, that simply allows you to make payments at participating merchants. Google Checkout: no PayPal killer For the vendor, Google takes a smaller cut of payments than eBay’s PayPal does. PayPal starts at US$0.30 plus 2.9 percent of the total payment, but Google lowballs that with $0.20 and 2 percent, respectively. In addition, merchants that use AdWords get a break on these fees to the tune of ten times the amount spent on advertising. In other words, spend $100 on AdWords campaigns and get up to $1,000 of your Checkout fees refunded, making the … Continue reading Gbuy launched as Google Checkout

Dexit have quietly added a restructure specialist to the board.  This seems to validate the earlier speculation in a few earlier posts, summarised here, that they are in trouble, and considering different options. To recap, Dexit offer a contactless payment capability over a proprietary network in Canada, but primarily in downtown toronto.  They are been valiantly trying to expand their network coverage. T.DXT – News Releases Edward Nordholm – Mr. Nordholm is an Independent Consultant. Previously he was Senior Vice President of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. where he continues to serve the company on a consulting basis. He brings more … Continue reading Dexit makes more moves to re-structure or exit

Yodlee new Bill Payment, offers the choice for customers to pay their monthly bills from either deposit account, or from Credit Card. They are promoting the Bank benefit to earn additional interchange on the credit card payments, being net new transactions not done today with credit card. Finextra: Yodlee launches card-based online bill payment Yodlee BillPay uniquely offers the benefits of both the consolidated bill pay model (single console for managing all bills) and the biller direct model (flexible payment instruments, same-day credit, direct confirmation of payment from biller) to create a richer and more user-friendly bill pay experience.And, because … Continue reading Yodlee launches card-based online bill payment