Digital prepaid rewards offer businesses a flexible solution to engage and motivate customers globally and virtually
PLEASANTON, Calif., April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Today, global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network announced an agreement with Rybbon, a leading digital rewards platform, to provide businesses with virtual open-loop Mastercard® reward options. Businesses can now use these rewards to engage customers digitally. Reward recipients can add these Mastercard rewards to mobile wallets from Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay to make purchases with just the tap of their phone or smartwatch. According to Blackhawk’s research1, digital prepaid rewards are efficient and preferred incentives when recipients want to receive rewards quickly—making them an incredibly effective business tool for marketing, research and employee programs.
“Consumers appreciate the speed and versatility of virtual rewards, and now is the time for businesses to leverage them to boost participation and engagement in programs,” said Jignesh Shah, CEO of Rybbon. “We enjoy working with Blackhawk because of its superior digital rewards capabilities. They empower our customers to quickly reach their audience and create regular touchpoints that drive satisfaction and behavior. Additionally, Blackhawk’s virtual rewards enable our customers to deliver rewards usually within moments of someone earning them, no matter where they are.”
Blackhawk drove advancements in the digitization of open-loop prepaid cards as rewards when it enabled their integration into mobile wallets. Blackhawk’s research1 found that 72% of respondents report high levels of satisfaction when adding prepaid cards to mobile wallets.
“Contactless payments are becoming more commonplace in the U.S. and have significant traction globally—in fact, three out of five smartphone users have a mobile wallet2,” said Bill Warshauer, VP, Sales at Blackhawk Network. “Our research found that 81% of respondents agree that a digital prepaid reward would make them more likely to do business with a company in the future. Digital prepaid solutions help businesses reach mobile-minded consumers while building brand engagement and reducing the time between behavior and reward. These key competitive differentiators cannot be overlooked as part of a modern rewards program.”
About Blackhawk Network
Blackhawk Network delivers branded payment solutions through the prepaid products, technologies and network that connect brands and people. We collaborate with our partners to innovate, translating market trends in branded payments to increase reach, loyalty and revenue. Serving 28 countries, we reliably execute security-minded solutions worldwide. Join us as we shape the future of global branded payments. Visit blackhawknetwork.com.
About Rybbon
Rybbon puts the power of rewards to work for marketers and market researchers through its extensive catalog of e-gifts from top brands like Amazon.com and Panera. Rybbon also offers rewards suitable for international rewards programs such as Visa and Mastercard Prepaid cards that work in over 150 countries. Rybbon integrates with top marketing platforms including Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, HubSpot, and Marketo to make sending rewards easy and automatic.
Learn more about Rybbon at http://www.rybbon.net.
1 The “Blackhawk Product Research” study was an internet-based study conducted by Mastercard in collaboration with Blackhawk Network between September 5–26, 2019. The sample size included 4,990 U.S. prepaid card users ages 18+.
2 “Proximity mobile payment transaction value in the United States from 2015 to 2021” was published by Statista on July 23, 2019.
