Improve Customer Loyalty with Mobile Wallets and Payments

Mobile wallets integrated into a loyalty program have quickly become an essential solution brands can implement to provide a seamless customer experience. Consumers are always on the lookout for convenient and rewarding ways to make their shopping journey that much easier. When it comes to making purchases, there is not one solution more convenient to consumers than mobile wallets and payments. In fact, more consumers are starting to utilize mobile wallets and payments each year, making it a priority for brands to implement these payment options into their operations. According to a recent PYMNTS survey consisting of 2,000 consumers, nearly half of those surveyed stated that they use mobile wallets and payments to make purchases. Moreover, the survey found that ease of use and convenience are the primary reasons so many consumers are starting to utilize mobile wallets over traditional payment methods. 

What are Mobile Wallets/Payments?

Mobile wallets are a fantastic way for consumers to store necessary payment information, like credit and debit card information, loyalty information, discounts, and more in one place. These are extremely convenient solutions for consumers because they remove the process of franticly digging through pockets and purses to find the proper payment method or discount as all this information can be easily accessed on a mobile phone or tablet. Having this information consolidated in a single place makes the transaction process swift and painless, resulting in faster checkout times and happier customers. 

How do Mobile Payments Work?

Mobile wallets and payments have revolutionized the way consumers make purchases. Restaurant, retail, grocery, and convenience brands can implement mobile wallets and payments into customer experience solutions, like loyalty applications, to make accessing payment information and completing transactions fast and secure. Although loyalty programs do not directly store payment information like credit and debit card numbers, mobile wallets do store this information and can seamlessly be integrated into these platforms. 

With mobile wallets and payments, traditional payments, like cash and credit card swiping, are things of the past as consumers can now simply tap their mobile device near an NFC-enabled (near field communication) card reader or pay for their items directly through the brand’s mobile rewards app. The mobile wallet will send encrypted information to the payment processor ensuring all transactions are rapidly completed without worrying about fraud risks. As convenience continues to be the driving force for consumer interest, it is crucial for brands to provide their guests with easy solutions like mobile wallet payment options.

Benefits of Mobile Wallets/Payments

Mobile payments for loyalty programs have been game-changers for both consumers and brand operators. From a consumer perspective, mobile wallets and payments are more convenient and much safer than traditional payment methods as they protect cardholders from credit card skimmers, data breaches, and other ways hackers try to get their hands on valuable payment information. These solutions provide users with critical security features like two-factor authentication, one-time passwords, security questions, and more to ensure optimal protection against fraudulent activity. 

From an operator standpoint, mobile wallets store necessary customer payment information in one place, ensuring brands never have to worry about misplacing or losing this data as it can be easily stored, accessed, and retrieved. Furthermore, a mobile wallet loyalty program integration will assist with customer acquisition and retention strategies because guests who use a mobile wallet within a brand’s mobile app will automatically be given the opportunity to opt-in to the brand’s loyalty program. Mobile wallets and payments boost a brand’s speed of service with faster checkout times which ultimately enhance the customer journey. 

Features of Mobile Wallet Loyalty Rewards

The addition of mobile wallets and payments in loyalty program mobile apps has made the payment process incredibly easy. The ideal mobile wallet loyalty program integration will create exceptional digital customer experiences by empowering guests to not only earn rewards and discounts as they spend with a brand but to also complete every step of the transaction process on a mobile device. Additionally, guests enrolled in a brand’s loyalty program can use mobile wallets and payments to reload gift cards, store and keep track of rewards and discounts, receive personalized engagement and rewards exclusive to mobile wallet users, and so much more! Having access to this crucial information in a single platform removes the inevitable headache of finding, tracking, and using discounts or rewards at the point of purchase. 

Mobile Payments and Punchh Loyalty

For restaurant, retail, grocery, and convenience brands looking to enhance their customer journey and payment strategies, Punchh provides a seamless mobile wallet loyalty program integration. With Punchh Loyalty, brands will be provided with critical data to uncover a variety of operational and loyalty analytics like the percentage of customers using mobile wallets and how much more mobile wallet users spend. Furthermore, brands can create campaigns using automated customer segments to provide personalized engagement and offers to their mobile wallet users. 

An example of a Punchh mobile wallet loyalty program integration is seen with Salsarita’s Rewards. Punch integrated with ParPay to allow Salsarita’s to foster greater customer confidence by meeting expectations around digital payments. Salsartia’s reward members can access their mobile wallets to pay at the register or on their mobile devices, while earning points for their purchases. Furthermore, Salsarita’s can engage with and send loyal customers personalized rewards through the loyalty app that can be stored and tracked in a mobile wallet. 

As the world continues to rely on technology more and more each year, and consumers continue to prioritize convenience, brands of all sizes must implement convenient solutions that strengthen digital experiences like mobile wallets and payments. These are important solutions designed with ease of use, security, and storage as focal points to create lasting customer journeys.

Interested in learning more about how Punchh creates memorable customer experiences? Talk with an expert today and learn more about mobile wallet loyalty!