Category Archives: Industry Information

Customer Loyalty Programs

8 Benefits of a Customer Loyalty Program

Customer loyalty programs are a popular way for businesses to show appreciation for their customers and encourage loyalty. By offering rewards or discounts for repeat business or meeting certain criteria, these programs can bring numerous benefits to a business. In this blog post, we’ll explore 8 benefits of having a customer reward program.

1. Increased customer loyalty: Customer loyalty programs incentivize repeat business by offering rewards or discounts to customers who make purchases or meet certain criteria. This can lead to increased customer loyalty and a sense of exclusivity among program members.

2. Improved customer retention: Customer loyalty programs can help improve retention rates by providing a reason for customers to continue doing business with your company. When customers feel appreciated and rewarded for their loyalty, they are more likely to remain loyal customers.

3. Increased customer spending: Customer loyalty programs can encourage customers to spend more in order to earn rewards or reach certain thresholds for discounts. This can lead to an overall increase in customer spending and revenue for your business.

4. Greater customer satisfaction: Customer loyalty programs can contribute to a sense of satisfaction and enjoyment for customers, as they are able to earn rewards or discounts for their loyalty. This can lead to positive word-of-mouth marketing and increased customer satisfaction.

5. Personalized marketing opportunities: Customer loyalty programs can provide businesses with valuable customer data, such as purchasing habits and preferences. This data can be used to create personalized marketing campaigns and offers that are more likely to be successful with individual customers.

6. Competitive advantage: A well-designed customer loyalty program can set your business apart from competitors and provide a competitive advantage. Customers may be more likely to choose your business over others if they know they will be rewarded for their loyalty.

7. Improved customer experience: Customer loyalty programs can enhance the overall customer experience by making it more enjoyable and rewarding for customers to do business with your company. This can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

8. Increased brand awareness: Customer loyalty programs can help increase brand awareness by encouraging customers to share information about your business and its rewards program with their friends and family. This can lead to a larger customer base and increased revenue for your business.

Customer loyalty programs can bring numerous benefits to a business, including increased customer loyalty, improved retention rates, and increased customer spending. By providing a sense of exclusivity and appreciation for customers, these programs can enhance the customer experience and contribute to the success of a business. If you’re considering implementing a customer reward program, these benefits are worth considering.

Last Friday, a huge ransomware attack began in Europe, Japan, China and is still lingering. The WannaCry software has locked thousands of computers in more than 150 countries. Users are confronted with a screen demanding payment in order to restore their files.

Last Friday, a huge ransomware attack began in Europe, Japan, China and is still lingering. The WannaCry software has locked thousands of computers in more than 150 countries. Users are confronted with a screen demanding payment in order to restore their files.

Ransomware is a very fast growing and threatening type of malware attack. Everyone is a target, no matter how large or small your company is. Large companies like Target, T.J. Maxx, and Home Depot, have been attacked and had their customer data compromised. But what about smaller businesses? 1 in 5 small businesses hit by a ransomware attack are forced to close their doors. They just aren’t able to afford the payment demands and have lost years of company data.

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7 Tips to Defeat Ransomware

Luckily, Friday’s the attack was thwarted before it could hit every state in the U.S., but it’s not over. The attackers will realize how they were stopped, they’ll change the code, and start again. Your POS software and firewall updates are urgent right now. Your POS solutions provider can make these updates. There are solutions available to help you safeguard your POS system and your biusiness. The cost to protect yourself from a threat can be far lower than the cost in time & money of losing your data, and not being able to serve your customers or potentially having to rebuild your IT infrastructure. Download our “7 Tips to Defeat Ransomware” for additional information. Just one tip could save your business.

Mastercard Is Changing Their Numbers, It Will Impact Your Business.

All merchant POS (Point of Sale) terminals, credit card processing systems, webpage checkout software, and anywhere a Mastercard card number is accepted or housed, must be 2-series ready by June 2017.

What does this mean?mc-world-credit-card_2BIN-contactless-lmc-360x360.jpg

Bank Identification Numbers (BINs) are the first six-digits of a credit card number, and are fundamental to payments. They identify the issuing institution for the account and ensure that each transaction is routed correctly.

Mastercard® has received an additional range of 2-series numbers to add to the 5-series that are currently used. The 2-series BINs operate in the same way as the 5-series numbers and Mastercard has made changes to their systems to accommodate the new numbers. Banks began issuing 2-series BINs in early 2017.

Merchants should work with their service provider to evaluate their systems to determine whether updates are needed to accept 2-series BIN payments.

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2-series BIN impact
checklist for merchants

 

Potential implications for merchants

  • POS terminals and/or cash register updates
  • Educating your employees
  • Reporting, processing, and reconciliation
  • E-commerce/online checkout

Essential customers, please contact us for support.  If you’re not an Essential customer, please feel free to contact us for any questions about the new Mastercard 2-series BINs.