The First UK Credit Card Cardless Loyalty Programme

As any good UK credit card consumer should be able to tell you, these days if a credit card provider doesn’t offer some for of UK credit card loyalty programme, then it’s not really worth becoming a member! Why then has it taken UK credit card providers so long to move on from having to carry plastic loyalty card on to which to collect their hard earned reward points to a seamless world of a cardless loyalty programme? Given the advances in technology that have taken place in the UK credit card industry in the last few years, this would seem to be an almost inexcusable oversight.

The good news, this oversight may not be around for much longer. Effective June 2006, Lloyds TSB will be teaming up with Reward to pilot the first UK credit card cardless reward loyalty programme. Under the pilot scheme, participants of this new an innovative cardless scheme will merely have to register their card details and then use their card wherever they happen to see an outlet with the Reward logo.

Before you rush out and sign up for this scheme, however, you should be aware of two shortfalls in the scheme. First, rather obviously, the Reward scheme only works where there is a combination of both an outlet with the Reward logo AND a Lloyds TSB Cardnet merchant. Secondly, and rather more disappointingly, the piloted cardless loyalty programme is, currently, only being targeted at sports fans; and, more specifically, football fans. You could, if you were so inclined, be cynical and lambaste the amazing timing of this scheme and the culmination of the 2006 football World Cup in Germany.

Alternatively, you may be a football fan delighted to hear that you just happen to be the cross section of UK society that Lloyds TSB happens to be targeting their pilot programme at. Either way, if you do happen to be a football fan, and want to know how the pilot cardless pilot programme operates, essentially you’ll need to register your payment card details with your favourite football team and then each time you use the card point will accrue on your loyalty programme without the need for you to have to carry a plastic loyalty card to collect the reward points. Points can them be redeemed with the football club in the manner prescribed by the team.

Clearly then, we are on the threshold of having a seamless cardless loyalty programme in our mist. Hopefully, once the 2006 football World Cup is over, pilot scheme to other cross sections of UK society using credit card will be made available and this wonderful concept will catch on. If not, while advances in chip and pin boldly march on, the world of loyalty programmes will lag behind. If that happens, you can only but wonder, as a UK credit card user, whether we’ve all fallen for the biggest sales gimmick of the decade – after all, what’s the point of having a UK credit card loyalty programme if the UK credit card provider appears to be less than enthusiastic with rewarding its members?

Richard Smith
2nd July 2006

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