2013 Paybefore Awards Europe: Best Incentive, Reward, Rebate or Loyalty Card Program (June 2013)
Best use of a business- or corporate-funded prepaid card to deliver incentives, rewards or rebates to consumers to promote their loyal behavior.
Best in Category: Western Union MyWU Prepaid Card
Rewards customers for their prepaid transactions by giving them faster money transfers and special offers.
- The Western Union Company
The Western Union MyWU prepaid card is tailored to the unique needs of its money transfer customers in Austria, providing them with a convenient way to manage their everyday spending, making the money transfer process quick and convenient, and rewarding them for their loyalty with discounts on future money transfers.
The MasterCard-branded MyWU card enables customer data to be prepopulated in the system to cut the time it takes to send or receive money by more than half. The program also applies bonus points to the customer’s account when the card is reloaded at Western Union locations. Bonus points can be collected upon the purchase of the MyWU prepaid card and when reloading cash onto the card at a Western Union International Bank point of sale or when completing a money transfer transaction at the POS (when using the MyWU number from the card for the transaction). Those bonus points can then be used for discounts on money transfers.
Designed as a financial management tool, the Western Union MyWU prepaid card has a transparent fee structure and includes real-time text messages after every transaction, so cardholders always know how much money they have in their accounts. The program also enables customers to access their purchase and money transfer history—as well as bonus points earned—online, via IVR or customer support. The program is supported by multilingual marketing and call center staff to ensure customers understand how the product works.
Western Union has done its homework to develop a card that meets the needs of its customers, while extending its relationship with cardholders beyond money transfer. The Western Union MyWU Prepaid card was built to be a financial tool that respects its customers’ funds and makes the money transfer process reliable, quick and convenient.
Western Union’s prepaid cards and services are currently available in 12 countries. The MyWU Prepaid Card is live in Austria with future plans to roll out across the globe.
Winner: Asda Pocket Money Card
- First Data
Children and parents in the U.K. are nuts about the Pocket Money Card—monkey nuts! The closed-loop savings program—from Asda, a supermarket chain and Walmart subsidiary, and Atlanta-based payments processor First Data—assists parents in educating their children about positive financial discipline in a fun way.
The Pocket Money Card program revolves around an interactive online game that rewards children with monkey nuts virtual currency every time funds are loaded onto their cards. They can trade accumulated monkey nuts to play games like Hungry Monkeys and Monkey Tennis or to populate their Monkey Bank virtual island with fun, animated characters and other features. Parents register the card online, and one penny saved equals one monkey nut to spend. The actual balance is protected and only monkey nuts are used within the online game.
The target age of the Pocket Money Card is 7- to 11-year-old children and their parents. In addition to teaching children about saving money, the program increases store trips, basket size and visits to Asda’s Website. Young consumers encourage parents to visit Asda stores, and parents can monitor how their children spend the real money on the card—school supplies or toys, for example. And, parents registering their children’s Pocket Money Card are introduced to Asda’s Website, which could result in additional store visits and online purchases.
The Pocket Money Card establishes brand loyalty with adults—and sows the seeds of their children’s future loyalty—at a lower cost and higher profit margin than traditional reward cards by utilizing a closed-loop gift card, according to the company.
Winner: Samsung and Citi Prepaid Services Continue to Triumph with Appliance Cashback Program
- Samsung
- Citi
New methods of providing consumers easy-to-use, cash-back incentives are reshaping the way electronics and home appliances are marketed, and Citi Prepaid Services is delivering cost-effective and successful means for incentivizing customers and strengthening their brand loyalty. Case in point: Samsung targeted U.K. consumers considering a Samsung ecobubble washing machine or G-Series refrigerator and used a Visa-branded Citi prepaid card worth up to £150 (US$225.69) to complement and promote its 5-year warranty.
Previous cash-back promotions rewarded Samsung customers using check payments, a much slower disbursement method and one that wasn’t going to fly with today’s consumer. Samsung, once again, called on Citi, its trusted partner of 40 years, to deliver a flexible Visa prepaid card to consumers. This Samsung program is one of several prepaid card programs with Citi that continue to drive overall performance and delight Samsung customers, such as the Paybefore Award-winning Christmas cash-back promotion.
To receive the prepaid card, customers who made the qualifying purchases only needed to complete the redemption form included in the in-store leaflet, go to Samsung’s Website or mail their form along with proof of purchase. Once received, the card could be used immediately everywhere Visa cards are accepted.
The program’s results proved that prepaid cards are a powerful incentive that extends brand engagement long after purchase.
