“Apple will be launching a pilot program to develop partnerships with merchants, including retailers, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the program,” Ian Kar reports for Bank Innovations. “The program may be related to Apple launching a loyalty/rewards program.”
“Rumors about Apple making a play for a loyalty rewards company heated up after Bloomberg reported that loyalty rewards company Concur was courting suitors for a sale,” Kar reports. “A source recently confirmed to Bank Innovation that IHG International, the global hotel chain, was in talks with Apple to develop a partnership on a loyalty program… Hypothetically, those who pay with iTunes (or the iPhone 6 and iWatch) will be eligible for the loyalty program.”
“Sources close to Apple say the company has just started hiring for this division, and that, before the recent high-profile iCloud hack, the plan was to announce the pilot on Tuesday along with Apple’s other announcements,” Kar reports. “That very well may happen, or the announcement could be postponed until a later date — when more deals are in place and the mainstream media moves on from the iCloud cyberattack. Since Apple’s hiring for positions for this program now, but we don’t expect this program to be fully ready in the near future.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Joran” and “jpbeads13” for the heads up.]
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Gosh! A loyalty program . . Just like Walmart. Just like Krogers. Just like Dollar General! Wow! how upscale is that?
walmart doesn’t have a loyalty program
MERCEDES HAS A LOYALTY PROGRAM !!
No, just like the Starwood Preferred Guest program (in which I participate), for one example:
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/element/programs/index.html
And here I thought Starwood was owned by a democrat. How could you 20-20?
Good program.
Neither does Dollar General
Dahlink! My American Express Gold Card has Premium Rewards Points that gets me into ALL the best parties and flies me to Bangkok for lunch with my friends!
Apple should let you accumulate ‘points’ when you use their payment system that can be redeemed for cashback or an Apple GC. That would be amazing and would do a lot to drive people to use the new system.