By W.B. King
According to a 2023 Forbes Advisor Banking Survey, 57% of Americans use debit cards as their primary payment method; however, there aren’t as many rewards programs for debit cards as there are for credit cards. In fact, the only major credit card company to offer a 1% cash back debit card is Discover. This disconnect, in part, was the impetus for Prizeout’s new program, CashBack+.
“The majority of the country only uses debit-spend, and what I have learned from credit unions is that about 90% of member-spend is through debit cards,” Prizeout CEO David Metz told Finopotamus.
“When I dug a little bit deeper, I realized they [members] are doing it to be financially responsible — they don’t want to get themselves in trouble, but on the other side, they aren’t getting any rewards for [using debit cards],” he added.
The New York-based Prizeout is an ad-tech company working across the banking/credit union, gaming, crypto, gig economy, payroll and finance industries, Metz explained. In February 2023, Prizeout formally announced its new CUSO (credit union service organization), Prizeout Partners, which today counts 18 credit union partnerships. In total, the company serves 25 credit unions.
Putting More Money in Members’ Pockets
To celebrate debit card-using members, Prizeout announced in February 2024 the launch of CashBack+, Metz said of the white label solution designed with credit unions in mind.
“CashBack+ is a suite of products that lets credit union members earn instant cash back while they shop and lets credit unions grow their non-interest income by up to 3% on every member transaction,” he continued. “While purchasing power is getting squeezed across the board due to the current economic environment, credit unions now have the technology to help their members’ combat inflation and put more money in their pockets.”
Aside from Discover, mainly challenger bank brands, such as Juno, SoFi, Axos and Venmo, offer a debit cash back rewards program.
Currently, 12 credit unions are using CashBack+, including the $600 million Manchester, N.H.-based Bellwether Community Credit Union, which supports more than 28,000 members at three branch locations.
Lori Holmes, the credit union’s vice president of marketing, told Finopotamus that after working with Prizeout last year on another offering, the new rewards product was appealing.
“We thought of Cashback+ as a differentiator for us since so many financial institutions have similar [credit card] offerings,” she said, adding that from contract signing to rollout the process took approximately six weeks.
“Prizeout provided all documentation for staff and members,” she noted. “We were able to share those on our public website and our intranet for members and employees, respectively.”
While the program only recently rolled out, Holmes said: “We have had good response through email and online banking advertising.”
Flip of a Switch
Bellwether Community CU, Metz noted, operates on the Q2 Banking Solutions digital banking platform, which made for a streamlined tech integration.
“We spent most of last year integrating with providers and most people don’t like to do that work,” Metz said, noting other leading companies like Alkami Technology and Jack Henry that also easily integrate with the cash back program. “Now for any credit union that wants to participate it really is like a flip of the switch.”
“With new offers and brands joining all the time, CashBack+ also provides credit unions with ongoing reasons to communicate with their members and new ways for members to engage with their digital platform,” Metz continued. “When credit union members log in to their online banking application, they are presented with the option to purchase digital gift cards with cash back offers from an online marketplace of more than 450-plus national brands and access to thousands of local brands.”
After the transaction, the cash back perk is instantly deposited directly into the member’s CashBack+ balance. The monies can be used to purchase another gift card or transferred back into their bank account.
For retailers, CashBack+ is a “zero-risk customer acquisition” tool, he said. “Brands are able to more effectively target and only pay for the users they want, unlike traditional advertising technology options that charge for impressions and clicks.”
Bellwether Community CU’s strategy, Holmes noted, is to always innovate and offer competitive financial services to membership, which made the partnership a win-win.
“We were very excited to bring CashBack+ to our members. It was a no-brainer to integrate into our digital banking experience,” she noted. “We love being able to help our members stretch their dollars further as they discover new brands.”