Cartera Commerce, the leading provider of card-linked marketing solutions, today announced its next-generation card-linked offer platform, accelerating its market leadership and driving revenue growth for banks, issuers, loyalty programs and merchants. The new Cartera release integrates the Vesdia platform following the companies’ merger earlier this year, and introduces new innovations including local targeting, an enhanced card-linking engine and the Cartera Offer Cloud – the largest set of ready-to-use, on-demand, card-linked offers in the industry.
The new Cartera platform is already live at IHG (NYSE:IHG) and two of the nation’s largest financial institutions, and will be rolled out to other Cartera programs in the coming months. Currently, Cartera’s card-linked marketing solutions are used by four of the nation’s top five banks, three of the top four airlines and more than 60,000 merchant advertisers - reaching more than 150 million consumers.
“Our recent research projects the number of U.S. Merchant Funded Incentive program subscribers to exceed 460 million consumers by 2015 and to drive $1.7 billion in annual revenue for card issuers,” commented Madeline Aufseeser, senior analyst, Aite Group. “The success of these new programs requires an expanded merchant network and a rich set of program features and system capabilities. Cartera’s next-generation platform expands new revenue opportunities for new and existing Cartera clients.”
IHG, which includes 4,400 Intercontinental, Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza hotels, is using Cartera’s next generation platform to power its new, global shopping rewards program linked to its Priority Club® card. See related press release here: IHG and Cartera Commerce Launch First Integrated Global Shopping Rewards Program.
“One of the reasons we chose Cartera is their focus on innovation. By bringing together the best-in-class online and in-store merchant networks, they helped us realize our vision of launching the first integrated, multi-channel global loyalty shopping site in our industry,” said Don Berg, VP, Loyalty Programs for IHG. “We are excited to be the first to launch on Cartera’s new, integrated platform. Its flexible card-linking technology and global search capabilities will be especially useful to our members to maximize their Priority Club® point earnings potential. We look forward to an excellent partnership.”
In just six months, Cartera completed the integration of the Vesdia and Cartera platforms following the companies’ merger earlier this year and developed new capabilities based on the needs of its expanded card issuer client base. New functionality in its next-generation platform includes:
- Cartera Offer Cloud – Industry’s Largest Set of Ready-to-Use, On-Demand Card-Linked Offers
- 60,000+ in-store brands, local stores and online retailers in Offer Cloud
- New offer modules including recently announced Grocery module [see related press release]
- Expanded offer types including digital coupons-on-a-card, cashback and statement credits
Enhanced, Secure Card-Linking Engine
- Automatic card registration and enrollment with automatic linking and loading of offers in Offer Cloud
- Full compliance with industry privacy standards - consumer transaction data is always anonymized and never shared with third parties
- PCI certification for bank-grade security
Enhanced Targeting Engine
- New location-based targeting to enable Daily Deals-style local offers with benefits of card-linking and paperless redemption
- Competitive and category-based transaction targeting to drive conversion of in-store offers from national brands
- Enhanced self-learning personalization for improved conversion on all offer types
Comprehensive Cross-Channel Marketing Modules
- Enhanced email marketing module with personalized offer marketing, transaction-based targeting and automated offer confirmation emails
- Enhanced Web portal marketing module optimized for location-based offer searching, browsing and comparison
- Offer Anywhere™ Web services architecture to deliver targeted offers via any marketing channel, including online banking statements, mobile applications and social media
“The new release of Cartera’s card-linked offer platform sets a new benchmark in the card-linked marketing industry,” said Tom Beecher, president and CEO of Cartera Commerce. “Cartera’s merger with Vesdia in January represented a tremendous opportunity, not only for Cartera to extend its market and product leadership, but also for banks, issuers, loyalty programs and merchants to benefit from our complementary scale, technologies and merchant networks. By integrating the Vesdia platform in less than six months, Cartera is quickly realizing our vision of card-linked marketing and delivering incremental revenue for all of our clients and partners.”
About Cartera CommerceCartera Commerce is the leading provider of card-linked marketing solutions that increase revenue and customer loyalty for merchants, banks, issuers and loyalty programs. For merchants, Cartera powers the industry’s largest card-linked advertising network that targets shopping offers to more than 150 million loyal consumers and tracks in-store and online sales. For banks, issuers and loyalty programs, Cartera provides the industry’s most comprehensive card-linked offer platform that powers personalized in-store and online shopping programs that build consumer engagement, maximize card spend and create new revenue streams. Cartera’s platform delivers card-linked offers via multiple digital marketing channels including Websites, online banking, email, mobile, social media and browser apps. Four of the five largest financial institutions, three of the four largest airlines and 60,000 merchant advertisers drive incremental revenue with Cartera’s fully-managed, performance-based solutions. The company is headquartered in Lexington, MA and has significant operations in Atlanta, GA. For more information, visit www.cartera.com.