BIA/Kelsey is out with my new paper on the status of card-linked offers, which is based on detailed discussions with 14 leaders of the card linking ecosystem, including credit card firms, tech vendors, payment processors, publishers and merchants. Most of the respondents are members of The CardLinx Association. Card-linked offers are promotions based on transactions made on credit cards, debit cards, or loyalty programs. They represent an unprecedented level of media attribution.

This week, I presented report highlights to The CardLinx Association’s Mobile Summit in San Mateo. Among the findings: universal agreement that card linking is seeing momentum among merchants; that some budgets for card-linked offers have begun to move from experimental to seven-figure spending; and that many key categories are participating, including Quick Service and Fast Casual restaurants, specialty retail and subscription services.

Challenges remain, however. Once seen in simple terms as a successor to the prepaid model pioneered by Groupon and Living Social, there have been some slow-downs in the business. As Coupons.com SVP Bruce Sattley noted at The CardLinx Summit, “There is not as much fervor among retailers as I would have thought a year ago.”

Clearly, the ultimate success of card-linked offers will be linked to better coordination among the various segments of the CLO ecosystem; the development of a constant stream of attractive offers; greater awareness of CLOs; the elimination of structural sales blockages; and the development of industry standards for card-linked transactions.

More information about the report, including purchase information, may be accessed here.

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Facebook isn’t often thought of in terms of “commerce,” a la retailers such as Amazon or financial institutions such as American Express, but it makes a strong case for itself as a company that “unlocks” commerce. Speaking at The CardLinx Association’s Mobile conference in San Mateo on Feb. 24, Facebook Head of Payments and Commerce PJ Linarducci joked that his “day job” is “collecting (payments) from two million advertisers a month to help them connect with their audience.” These involve payments in 55 currencies, with 800+ payment methods. One million transactions take place daily.

Is there is a clear link to commerce from Facebook’s base in advertising? Linarducci thinks it is fairly obvious. “Commerce is about information,” he said.

With placement on 95 of the world’s cellphones, and detailed profile and usage information on its users, commerce also extends the company’s broader social mission. “Payments are just a point in social; helping people get what they want,” Linarducci said. He suggested that many marketers might post offers instead of ads, if given the opportunity.

While Facebook does not appear to have moved forward with several tests involving virtual gift cards, prepaid deals and virtual credits, the company is actively exploring all its commerce options. For instance, it is currently highlighting buy buttons attached to ads, and classifieds for groups.

“The big picture is to look at Facebook in terms of its access to audiences, its payments infrastructure and as providing world class tools,” said Linarducci. And commerce is happening on the site whether Facebook is directly involved or not. “People hack around the system to make commerce on Facebook — despite us not doing anything to help them,” he said.

Facebook’s PJ Linarducci

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Facebook isn’t often thought of in terms of “commerce,” a la retailers such as Amazon or financial institutions such as American Express, but it makes a strong case for itself as a company that “unlocks” commerce. Speaking at The CardLinx Association’s Mobile conference in San Mateo on Feb. 24, Facebook Head of Payments and Commerce PJ Linarducci joked that his “day job” is “collecting (payments) from two million advertisers a month to help them connect with their audience.” These involve payments in 55 currencies, with 800+ payment methods. One million transactions take place daily.

Is there is a clear link to commerce from Facebook’s base in advertising? Linarducci thinks it is fairly obvious. “Commerce is about information,” he said.

With placement on 95 of the world’s cellphones, and detailed profile and usage information on its users, commerce also extends the company’s broader social mission. “Payments are just a point in social; helping people get what they want,” Linarducci said. He suggested that many marketers might post offers instead of ads, if given the opportunity.

While Facebook does not appear to have moved forward with several tests involving virtual gift cards, prepaid deals and virtual credits, the company is actively exploring all its commerce options. For instance, it is currently highlighting buy buttons attached to ads, and classifieds for groups.

“The big picture is to look at Facebook in terms of its access to audiences, its payments infrastructure and as providing world class tools,” said Linarducci. And commerce is happening on the site whether Facebook is directly involved or not. “People hack around the system to make commerce on Facebook — despite us not doing anything to help them,” he said.

Facebook’s PJ Linarducci

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Card Linked Offers (CLOs) represent a potentially rich opportunity for online and mobile promotions and loyalty. But a lot of work needs to be done before the segment gets seriously underway.

Speaking at the inaugural conference of the CardlinX Association April 7 in Las Vegas, Microsoft GM of Local Advertising Erik Jorgensen noted there are significant opportunities to connect the online world with the offline world, closing the loop for online advertising and loyalty.

There is “broad experimentation with integrated consumer and merchant experiences,” said Jorgensen. “The CPA based ad model highly reasonates with merchants.”

During the past 12 months, Microsoft has launched CLO betas of its Bing Offers in Seattle, Boston and Phoenix. The trials take off on Microsoft’s initial deals efforts, but don’t require pre-payment.

Most of Microsoft’s efforts in the space are focused on the Bing portals — both on the Web and on mobile. Card linked efforts are also included in Bing Local, Bing’s Listings Page and the Bing Search Engine Results Page.

There is also a strong “mobile first” component to the effort. Windows Phone, Skype and Windows 8 are all included in the efforts, which are seen as a marketplace differentiator. “There are five or six places on the phone where we surface offers,” said Jorgensen.

The company is also sending out targeted emails. “We are building up our muscles to understand how we target offers,” noted Jorgensen. “The next phase is not just a pull but a push” via intelligent notification.

This post is an excerpt from a full Briefing on The Cardlinx meeting, which is available to BIA/Kelsey clients.

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Card Linked Offers (CLOs) represent a potentially rich opportunity for online and mobile promotions and loyalty. But a lot of work needs to be done before the segment gets seriously underway.

Speaking at the inaugural conference of the CardlinX Association April 7 in Las Vegas, Microsoft GM of Local Advertising Erik Jorgensen noted there are significant opportunities to connect the online world with the offline world, closing the loop for online advertising and loyalty.

There is “broad experimentation with integrated consumer and merchant experiences,” said Jorgensen. “The CPA based ad model highly reasonates with merchants.”

During the past 12 months, Microsoft has launched CLO betas of its Bing Offers in Seattle, Boston and Phoenix. The trials take off on Microsoft’s initial deals efforts, but don’t require pre-payment.

Most of Microsoft’s efforts in the space are focused on the Bing portals — both on the Web and on mobile. Card linked efforts are also included in Bing Local, Bing’s Listings Page and the Bing Search Engine Results Page.

There is also a strong “mobile first” component to the effort. Windows Phone, Skype and Windows 8 are all included in the efforts, which are seen as a marketplace differentiator. “There are five or six places on the phone where we surface offers,” said Jorgensen.

The company is also sending out targeted emails. “We are building up our muscles to understand how we target offers,” noted Jorgensen. “The next phase is not just a pull but a push” via intelligent notification.

This post is an excerpt from a full Briefing on The Cardlinx meeting, which is available to BIA/Kelsey clients.

The post Microsoft’s Jorgensen: “We Are Building Our Muscles’ in Card Linked Space appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Local marketing has increasingly been about non-advertising channels, including Web sites, reputation management, social media, prepaid promotions and big data analytics. In recent months, much of our attention has been on the leveraging of card payment information before, during and after transactions — especially for promotions and analytics.

Card-linked offers and transaction marketing will only get more impactful as commerce transitions to mobile. As they say: “You are not what you search for, you are what you buy.”

With this in mind, a wide range of companies banded together last October in The Cardlinx Association to develop common standards and awareness for the space. Cardlinx is now set to launch a one day event April 7 at The Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas (before The Electronic Transactions Association conference.)

Cardlinx has developed a great lineup, including many industry leaders — some of whom you’ll recognize from BIA/Kelsey events. Some of the more familiar “names” include Erik Jorgenson, Microsoft; Dom Morea, First Data; John Bax, Living Social;Eckart Walter, CardSpring; Patrick Grady, Deem; and Schwark Satyavolu, MasterCard.

BIA/Kelsey is also involved: we’re running a session entitled “Enlisting SMBs for Card Linked Offers.” We’ll pair some brand new BIA/Kelsey research with presentations from Ed Braswell, CEO, Edo Interactive; Doron Friedman, CEO, SpotOn; and Kevin Lewis, Director, Strategic Solutions, First Data.

Cardlinx is giving BIA/Kelsey community members $100 off registration prices. Just write “BIA/Kelsey” in the comments section when you register,and it will be taken off the fee.

The post BIA/Kelsey Presents 'Enlisting SMBs for Card Linked Offers' at CardlinX Forum April 7 appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Local marketing has increasingly been about non-advertising channels, including Web sites, reputation management, social media, prepaid promotions and big data analytics. In recent months, much of our attention has been on the leveraging of card payment information before, during and after transactions — especially for promotions and analytics.

Card-linked offers and transaction marketing will only get more impactful as commerce transitions to mobile. As they say: “You are not what you search for, you are what you buy.”

With this in mind, a wide range of companies banded together last October in The Cardlinx Association to develop common standards and awareness for the space. Cardlinx is now set to launch a one day event April 7 at The Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas (before The Electronic Transactions Association conference.)

Cardlinx has developed a great lineup, including many industry leaders — some of whom you’ll recognize from BIA/Kelsey events. Some of the more familiar “names” include Erik Jorgenson, Microsoft; Dom Morea, First Data; John Bax, Living Social;Eckart Walter, CardSpring; Patrick Grady, Deem; and Schwark Satyavolu, MasterCard.

BIA/Kelsey is also involved: we’re running a session entitled “Enlisting SMBs for Card Linked Offers.” We’ll pair some brand new BIA/Kelsey research with presentations from Ed Braswell, CEO, Edo Interactive; Doron Friedman, CEO, SpotOn; and Kevin Lewis, Director, Strategic Solutions, First Data.

Cardlinx is giving BIA/Kelsey community members $100 off registration prices. Just write “BIA/Kelsey” in the comments section when you register,and it will be taken off the fee.

The post BIA/Kelsey Presents ‘Enlisting SMBs for Card Linked Offers’ at CardlinX Forum April 7 appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.