Mobile payments and loyalty programs will lead to a cashless economy

 

Mobile growth company Urban Airship today announced that Urban Airship Reach will support enhanced rewards experiences with Apple Pay, bringing loyalty rewards together with a business’ support for Apple Pay to offer consumers the ability to earn and redeem rewards, and pay, with a single tap.

Businesses can now automatically update loyalty points or serve up a pre-filled rewards enrollment form at the point of sale when customers use Apple Pay at the register, on the web or in apps.

The complete solution will be demonstrated for the first time at Mobile World Congress, February 27 – March 2.

>See also: Is the mobile the future of payments?

“Apple Pay is unlocking massive marketing value for brands as loyalty cards top the list of things consumers want in their wallets and provides a dramatically easier and speedier checkout experience that extends reach well beyond the register,” said Brett Caine, CEO and president of Urban Airship.

“The opportunity for growth could be as monumental as the Web, or apps, or email coming into existence, and Urban Airship is on the frontlines of helping businesses of all sizes fully realize the promise of dynamic mobile wallet marketing with Apple Pay.”

In line with the increasing trend of mobile payments and loyalty programs Urban Airship has just released new data from an August 2016 survey of 1,000 U.S. and 1,000 U.K. adults.

It revealed that 82% of smartphone users are more likely to join a loyalty program if they automatically had the option at the time of purchase with no forms to fill out.

On top of this, 85% of respondents with household incomes over $60K are more likely to join a loyalty program if they had the option to join at the time of purchase with no forms to fill out; and over 90% of iPhone consumers between 18-54 are likely to join a loyalty program if they had the option to join at the time of purchase with no forms to fill out.

The stakes are high. Forrester forecasts in-store mobile payments will grow to nearly $34 billion in 2019, from about $4 billion in 2014.

>See also: Forget smartphones: why credit cards are still the most mobile payment

By streamlining rewards with mobile payments, this helps retailers easily grow loyalty program membership and fully take advantage of the dynamic communications mobile wallet.

Judy Chan, director of product marketing at Urban Airship provided Information Age with an exclusive comment on the future of mobile payments, loyalty programs and Urban Airship’s offering: “The missing link for broader mobile payments adoption is providing customer-centric value like loyalty rewards and discounts, as pulling out your phone to pay for things isn’t any easier than pulling out a card.”

“Today, we’re answering the call, bringing loyalty rewards and payments together in a single tap experience that will enable retailers to turn transactions into relationships. Super simple auto enrollment will enable retailers to easily grow loyalty programs, while ongoing customer engagement through mobile wallet loyalty cards and lockscreen notifications will completely change how brands can communicate with members.”

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Nick Ismail

Nick Ismail is a former editor for Information Age (from 2018 to 2022) before moving on to become Global Head of Brand Journalism at HCLTech. He has a particular interest in smart technologies, AI and...

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