Ascenda

When financial institutions evaluate their marketing priorities there’s a misguided emphasis on customer acquisition. It’s a pervasive oversight – disproportionately allocating budget and resources to acquisition marketing while neglecting the profound growth outcomes that come from engagement marketing. The prevalent focus on new customer acquisition results in suboptimal resource utilization, stunted growth opportunities, and a loss in customer loyalty. According to Harvard Business Review: ➡️ Retention is 5X more cost-effective than acquisition ➡️ A modest 5% increase in retention can elevate profits by 25-95% ➡️ Engagement marketing can enhance usage by 34% Forrester’s 2024 CX report revealed a sharp decline in customer engagement, reaching it's lowest point this year compared to any other time in the last decade. It's now table stakes for organizations to recalibrate their strategies, emphasizing the cultivation and expansion of their existing customer base to achieve sustainable success. By prioritizing engagement marketing, companies can unlock substantial business growth and drive long-term value for their customers. #MarketingStrategy #CustomerRetention #Fintech #CustomerEngagement #BusinessGrowth

Forrester just released their 2024 US Customer Experience Index report across 12 major industries and the findings are jarring. Most consumers are having the worst experiences in a decade. Brands are missing the mark on creating meaningful customer experiences. Only 12% of brands received excellent scores, while the majority have stagnated or declined, impacting loyalty and engagement. Customer-obsessed organizations reported 41% faster revenue growth, 49% faster profit growth, and 51% better customer retention than those at non-customer-obsessed organizations. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gD6hQde6

How can financial institutions deliver impactful rewards value without relying solely on swipe fees? This was a hot topic discussed by our team at Money20/20 Europe, given the low-interchange environment in the European market and the prevalence of debit payments with minimal margins to fund rewards. Three strategies are proving they can move the needle and are quickly gaining traction: 1. Merchant-funded offers that feed into a rewards currency. Data consistently shows that accruing the value of merchant offers into a rewards balance (whether that’s a cash balance or a points currency) delivers significantly greater engagement than straight payout as a discount or rebate. Because we’re all collectors at heart, and it’s gratifying to see a rewards balance grow. 2. Rewarding the entire customer relationship, rather than just card spend, by incentivizing profitable behaviors beyond payments. Whether it’s a savings account, FX transactions or investment trades, a whole-of-bank approach unlocks new margin pools and the opportunity to drive holistic customer lifetime value. 3. Personalized rewards that are not publicized but instead smartly delivered to targeted groups of customers. These can be funded from marketing budgets instead of product margins. Investing marketing dollars to boost the earning of an accruing rewards currency delivers significantly greater ROI than classical ad-hoc incentives such as one-time cash rebates or random gifts. Our mission at Ascenda: enabling brands to drive growth inclusive of these three avenues, with a world-class rewards technology and content ecosystem that makes it easy.

What comes to mind when you think of “premium rewards?” Perhaps it’s rewards that are highly coveted, rare, or difficult to achieve. These are all true. They’re rewards that create emotional gratification and lasting memories compared to everyday rewards (such as standard % cash back or gift cards) – and they’re effective because they tap into our psyche and motivate behavior. To illustrate the difference: Standard reward: 1% cash back on a $100 purchase = $1 reward Premium reward: 1 point per dollar spent on a $100 purchase = 100 points which could accumulate to airline miles, hotels, or fine dining experiences. Both are valuable in different circumstance but they drive entirely different customer behaviors. Expectancy theory explains why people are more motivated to engage with a program when they see tangible positive results; which only increases as the results become more desirable. Examples of premium rewards include: → Direct travel bookings through your credit card → Travel experiences such as free upgrades and private lounge access → Transferring points from your credit card to another loyalty program → Merchant funded bonus points for fine dining or entertainment events 70% of the leading loyalty programs (meaning the top 10 programs in the world such as Amex, Chase, and Citi) offer premium rewards such as travel bookings or points transfers. Compare that with the challenger brands (programs ranked 11-50 in the world) and that number drops to less than 25%. So even if we know they work, why are premium rewards still so uncommon? First, they require agreements made directly with suppliers and come with strict guidelines for how they’re marketed. Premium rewards suppliers don’t want to dilute their brand equity, so they're a lot more selective when partnering with financial institutions (FI's).  Second, they’re harder to fund. FI's typically fund their rewards programs from the credit card’s interchange fees, generally ranging between .3% to 2% depending on the market. Premium rewards require a higher redemption payout, which needs to be carefully budgeted for the program to run sustainably and generate profit. A win-win is a blend of standard AND premium rewards; to engage with a broad base of customers and then target premium offers to specific segments based on their behaviors and the campaign goals (upsell, increase credit card usage, etc.).  Lastly, there’s technology. Rewards programs are only as effective as how well they're marketed. Many FIs still use fragmented legacy tools to run their programs. These tools lack proactive communication, rewards personalization, and analytics to improve program outcomes. This why programs – even with great rewards – can still fail. The recipe to a successful program is: offer a wide array of premium and standard rewards + an effective program design to maximize ROI + proactive marketing across all customer segments to drive performance and growth. 🎯

Our mission is to power outsized growth for financial institutions and merchants globally. To do this, we’re building the strongest team and culture possible – to deliver exceptional value to our customers. Today we are incredibly excited to welcome Joshua Berwitz to our executive team as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) leading all go-to-market, partnerships, and client functions. Josh brings decades of experience in payments and loyalty; he's designed, built, and operated some of the world’s most accomplished rewards propositions. He spent 24 years at American Express driving growth across consumer cards, business cards, and merchant loyalty. Among his many areas of ownership were the global relationships with large strategic partners such as Delta and Marriott, the Membership Rewards partnerships portfolio, as well as the Global Lounge Collection. Please join us in welcoming Josh to Ascenda! Read the full announcement here: https://bit.ly/3VqEfMQ #Leadership #GlobalExpansion #LoyaltyPrograms #Ascenda #NewAppointment

Ascenda is a Platinum Sponsor at Loyalty Summit Europe. We look forward to exploring the future of loyalty and the trends beyond loyalty that are essential to driving customer engagement. Engage in insightful conversations with the Ascenda team at our exclusive 'Upper deck' space, above the breakout area. See you there! 📅 June 5-6 📍 Andaz London Liverpool Street 🚀 #LoyaltySummitEurope #Ascenda #CustomerEngagement #FutureOfLoyalty #LoyaltyTrends #BeyondLoyalty

⏰ The countdown is on! With 8,500 attendees from over 100 companies, Ascenda is set to make a big impact at Money20/20 Europe in Amsterdam, June 4-6. Join us at booth 1G160 for insightful discussions on customer loyalty strategies that drive business growth. Don't miss the chance to connect with our team and discover how we can help elevate your loyalty programs. Book a meeting now – we can't wait to see you there! https://lnkd.in/gKHVC-vk

We’re delighted to announce our partnership with Ramp, expanding their cash back program into a coveted loyalty program with access to world class rewards. Customers can now earn, transfer, and redeem points to a broad selection of desirable travel rewards programs globally! Ramp is raising the bar with premium rewards that increase customer satisfaction, retention, and lifetime value. Their loyalty proposition pairs perfectly with their modern corporate card and seamlessly integrates with their spend management platform. “Customers want more ways to redeem points on every dollar spent, with rewards that are relevant to their bottom line and their employees. By partnering with Ascenda, we’re able to provide flexibility with control – which is embedded in everything we do – to allow businesses to redeem in ways that work for them without any wasteful spend.” – Colin Kennedy, Chief Business Officer at Ramp You can read more about it here: https://bit.ly/450fbiK

Ascenda is heading to Money20/20 Europe in Amsterdam! Join us at the premier fintech conference where innovation meets opportunity. 📅 Dates: June 4-6, 2024 📍 Location: Amsterdam RAI 📍 Ascenda Booth: 1G160 We're excited to be sponsoring a booth where you can get a demo of how our rewards platform can supercharge your loyalty program. Our team, including Sebastian Grobys and Jackie Nissen, will be there to discuss how we can help deepen customer relationships, drive customer engagement and business growth. 🗓️ Schedule: 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟰, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 - 𝟮:𝟯𝟱 𝗣𝗠 & 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟲, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 - 𝟭𝟭:𝟭𝟬 𝗔𝗠 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗶𝘁𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 Explore how advances in technology and consumer behavior can deepen customer relationships using rewards. Learn why gamification is crucial in your customer engagement strategy and what pitfalls to avoid. 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟱, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 - 𝟭𝟬:𝟰𝟱 𝗔𝗠 𝗥𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽: 𝗔 𝗡𝗲𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 Discover how a neobank unlocked premium value for non-card products with whole-of-bank rewards. We'll also dive into the 5 principles of a successful whole-of-bank rewards structure. 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟱, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 - 𝟮:𝟯𝟱 𝗣𝗠 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀-𝗢𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀 Many financial brands invest heavily in acquiring customers but fall short of engaging and retaining them over time. Learn how the right campaign engine can drive customer behaviors continuously, with compelling ROI, through always-on incentive strategies that don't eat up valuable resources. 📢 See you in Amsterdam! https://lnkd.in/eySsynaw #Money2020Europe #Fintech #RewardsPrograms #Ascenda

Why are consumers ditching OTAs and booking travel directly through their bank credit card? ✈️ According to Skift, around one third of U.S. Millennials and Gen-Zers now book travel through their credit card platforms. The same study also found that 49% of U.S. travelers have a travel credit card and almost a quarter have more than one. There's a few reasons why this is happening: Most obvious: inflation. Credit cards offer consumers the option to pay with their points, which off-sets the higher costs associated with airline and hotel bookings. Consumers use their points as a hedge against inflation. 💳 Not only can consumers pay with their points, they can also redeem extra rewards such as free upgrades, member discounts, and private airport lounge access. Plus, they have the convenience of 24/7 customer service directly through their credit card. For travel suppliers, OTAs can charge upwards of 50% commission for bookings and distribution fees. While the sales volumes through OTAs are high, suppliers are looking for ways to reduce the cost of booking – especially with increasing demand in the post-pandemic world where people are starving for travel experiences. What about the banks? Banks are in the most advantageous position to build loyalty platforms and win-over this new generation of travelers. To put this market opportunity into perspective, in 2022 JPMorgan Chase launched Chase Travel. By the end of 2023, they processed roughly $10B in transactions! Banks also sit on tremendous amounts of transactional data and spending insights to engage customers with personalized rewards. 🌟 Premium loyalty programs – especially travel – offer banks a powerful lever to acquire the young and growing demographic of consumers; not to mention their millions of cardholders to incentivize increased usage (earning points on everyday spend) and retention (much lower chance of churning when they have access to amazing rewards). With premium travel perks, convenience, and substantial savings, it's no wonder consumers are choosing to book travel through their bank credit cards, signaling a shift that OTAs can't afford to ignore. 🚀