Rewards Redemption: Birch also Advises Cardholders

The Californian start-up Birch, which proposes a mobile-based personal budget management app, just raised one million dollars from several investors, including AGP Miami and Alienware. This roundtable starts a new growth and innovation phase for Birch. They now want to provide cardholders with advice on which card they should use to get the best rewards possible.

This American start-up proposes a mobile app designed to optimise cardholders’ use of their loyalty programs. They help them identify the programs they should use or subscribe to increase their rewards.

The app connects to the user’s bank accounts to analyse his transactions, and buying habits. It then recommends which credit card should preferably be used for specific purchases, and which loyalty program should be subscribed.

This tool relies on (mobile-based) location data. When the customer walks by a relevant store, he gets an alert explaining which card and option to apply.

Comments – Mobile wallets for optimising budget management

American customers are famous for holding many payment cards: often up to four. And most of these cards are tied to loyalty programs with very different terms. Yet, very few customers are actually aware of the applicable offers and conditions. Birch sees it as an opportunity to remedy this situation, and expand their business model.

Budget management offers have been confirming this trend. They gather data directly from the customers’ bank accounts, analyse it, and exploit it to add value to their offers. New entrants are trying to make room for themselves on this niche market, where some FinTech have already made quite an impression. Wallaby, for instance, proposed to optimise rewards management through an e-purse, which went with a card, a mobile wallet, and could also be paired with connected objects.

In France, this trend has been illustrated by players like Fluo: an InsurTech which relies on a mobile app to scrutinise consumers’ card-related insurance products, and help them optimise their offers.