Unprecedented competitive pressures and a slowing economy are driving merchants to look for innovative ways to reduce operating expenses and increase revenues. However, cost reductions have to be invisible to the customer, who shops with high expectations of good value for his money as well as superior service and convenience. For this reason, merchants who want to attain and hold a competitive advantage will scrutinize every opportunity to improve the efficiencies and cost effectiveness of their behind-the-scenes business processes. What’s unique about this approach is that it’s truly merchant-centric. Most forms of decoupled debit are intended to profit the financial institution (FI) but not necessarily the merchant. This new “payment plus loyalty” approach shifts the value proposition to the merchant by enabling it to own the customer relationship (and all the insightful information the relationship yields), improve the customer experience (which in turn deepens loyalty), and streamline and reduce the cost of many payment processes.