Visa’s July 1, 2021 analysis identifies three priorities for loyalty programs: rewards earned where customers spend, benefits they value and straightforward redemption. It examines how financial institutions, fintechs and merchants were adapting those elements after the pandemic disrupted spending patterns.

The examples include Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards and U.S. Bank’s Business Leverage Visa Signature card. Visa also describes travel brands extending earning opportunities into adjacent categories as customers changed where they spent.

For reward selection, Visa discusses travel and cryptocurrency among the options that could appeal to different audiences. At the time of the 2021 article, it described work with platforms including BlockFi, Coinbase and Fold to connect digital currencies with merchant payments.

Redemption options in the analysis include cashback, points transfers, gift cards and applying points to everyday purchases. Visa Consulting and Analytics also reported that, in its North American quick-service restaurant spending analysis, merchants with loyalty programs outperformed those without them, with more developed programs showing stronger performance. The article does not set out a universal uplift for every program.