FOREX Magazine

Offer
Startup Roundu
For Loyalty Pr
When driving innovation and
taking new approaches to
payments, FinTech startups
can increase choice for
banks, retailers and
consumers.
Last month, startups such as
Modo helped airline
customers find more ways to
spend their points, while
DadeSystems sought to assist
banks in giving their
corporate consumers more
treasury marketing offerings.
Here is the latest news from
startup-land in September.
Modo
In the travel payments
space, Modo helped an
airline take a new approach
to its loyalty program. The
company created a widget
that allows customers of the
Etihad Airways loyalty
program to log into their
accounts as part of the
FinTech Abu Dhabi
Innovation Challenge.
To use the widget and
redeem their points,
customers log into their
loyalty accounts, then use
a combination of points and
another form of payment.
The widget allows the airline
to capture how many loyalty
points the consumer wants to
use, and allows the consumer
to enter their credit or debit
card information. Through
the checkout page, the
widget provides a single card
for that transaction, and the
Etihad reservation site
processes the purchase as it
would for any other card.
This type of multi-tender
option can cause
headaches, however, as
merchants are processing
two different transactions
and settlements. That can
pose a particular challenge if
consumers want, say, a
refund or a change in
itinerary, as a customer may
no longer be able to go on a
planned trip or may need to
change the routing. The
process for a refund, reversal
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