Earlier this year, I posted a blog on merchant rewards programs and how they can help build and nurture your FI’s business relationships.

Today, I’d like to talk about what they can do for your walletshare.

Of course we know that a rewards program is only as good as its perks. And funding the kind of rewards that get cardholders to use your plastic first and most often can be costly.

Enter merchant-funded rewards.

Designed to provide a win-win for the merchant and card-issuing FI, these rewards programs are enticing, affordable and offer merchants an increased window into the effectiveness of their marketing program.

But how do FIs find and then encourage merchants to participate? And what about national retailers? How do small-town FIs interested in running a robust rewards program loaded with national merchants get started?

The answer: it’s already been done. TMG is right now working with national – and even global – retailers to sign them up for participation in a group merchant-funded rewards program.

Retailers like Best Buy, Home Depot and Target.com have signed on to provide rewards to consumers who use specified plastic in their online and brick-and-mortar stores. Working together, the merchants are able to easily fund the rewards with the increased pool of shoppers and guaranteed income they realize from the added marketing power of the program.

Rewards programs are proven to increase interchange, and when the perks are funded by merchants, adding these programs to a portfolio becomes a no-brainer for FIs looking to boost use of their cards.

If you’re interested in TMG’s exclusive list of merchants available to your card-issuing financial institution, send an email with the subject line “Merchant Funded Rewards.”