Big Names among Group Aiming to Bolster Card-Linked Offers (Oct. 8, 2013)
Some of the heaviest hitters in e-commerce, banking and tech have joined together to enhance customers’ experience with card-linked offers. The newly formed CardLinx Association counts among its ranks a number of big names, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Discover, Facebook, First Data Corp., LivingSocial, MasterCard and Microsoft Corp. Announced this week at the Money 2020 conference in Las Vegas, the nonprofit association was formed to “establish increased interoperability, eliminate friction and promote the growth of the card linked offers industry.”
While card-linked offers have become popular, consumers often have had difficulty managing and using the myriad offers they receive, the group said. CardLinx aims to simplify the process by enabling merchants and advertisers to deliver card-linked offers without having to use paper coupons, vouchers or promotional codes on consumers’ mobile devices.
“The CardLinx Association brings together thought leaders from across a variety of important linked industries, allowing us to define a set of standards and services that will make it easier for consumers to shop and for merchants to sell their services,” said Silvio Tavares, founding CEO of CardLinx.
Members of the consortium already have begun collaborating. First Data’s OfferWise platform, which enables retailers to link offers to cards and mobile wallets for streamlined redemption at the POS, is being integrated into Microsoft’s Bing Offers, which consolidates local deals from a number of daily deals providers. Dubbed Bing Offers Card-Linked, the partnership enables Bing Offers users to link their credit cards to their Microsoft accounts. Users then are notified of local deals and receive discounts automatically when using the linked card. The program currently is being piloted in Seattle.
