Canonical URL: https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/yoyo-rewards-provides-guidance-on-building-vs-buying-loyalty-infrastruct-80319b14735e/ --- description: Yoyo Rewards provides guidance on building vs buying loyalty infrastructure, highlighting the pros and cons of each option and introducing a third option: integrating with existing infrastructure through a single API. title: Yoyo Rewards: Build or Buy Loyalty Infrastructure and API Integration image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/yoyo-rewards-build-buy-loyalty-infrastructure-api-integration-1ed1a9e174f8d4a5383dec92dd08a91f.jpg --- 1. [Home](https://giftcard.news/) 2. [Rewards & Loyalty](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/) # Yoyo Rewards: Build or Buy Loyalty Infrastructure and API Integration Yoyo Rewards provides guidance on building vs buying loyalty infrastructure, highlighting the pros and cons of each option and introducing a third option: integrating with… By [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) July 15, 2026 3 min read Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fyoyo-rewards-provides-guidance-on-building-vs-buying-loyalty-infrastruct-80319b14735e%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Yoyo%20Rewards%3A%20Build%20or%20Buy%20Loyalty%20Infrastructure%20and%20API%20Integration "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fyoyo-rewards-provides-guidance-on-building-vs-buying-loyalty-infrastruct-80319b14735e%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Yoyo%20Rewards%3A%20Build%20or%20Buy%20Loyalty%20Infrastructure%20and%20API%20Integration%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fyoyo-rewards-provides-guidance-on-building-vs-buying-loyalty-infrastruct-80319b14735e%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") ![Source image for Yoyo Rewards Provides Guidance on Building vs Buying Loyalty Infrastructure](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/yoyo-rewards-build-buy-loyalty-infrastructure-api-integration-source-image-provides-guidance-w1280.webp) Photo: Source: yoyorewards.com The cost of a loyalty programme extends beyond its points rules to payments integration, reconciliation and redemption. [Yoyo Rewards](https://giftcard.news/company/yoyo-rewards/) argues in July 15, 2026 guidance that enterprise retailers should compare an in-house build, standalone software and an API connection to existing loyalty infrastructure. The article outlines the costs and complexities of building a loyalty program from scratch, including the need for a customer database, points engine, and mobile app, as well as the invisible integration work required to connect the points engine to every till, card processor, and store system. It also highlights the risks and challenges of building a points system that reconciles accurately against live transaction data across a multi-brand, multi-POS retail estate. ## Build, SaaS or a loyalty API The article presents three options for loyalty infrastructure: building in-house, buying a standalone SaaS loyalty program, and integrating with existing infrastructure through a single API. It discusses the pros and cons of each option, including the costs, flexibility, and scalability of each approach. The build option gives companies full control over features, roadmap, and data ownership, but it is not a cost-efficient solution and requires a permanent specialist engineering team. The buy option is faster to launch and removes the burden of maintenance, but it still requires integrating the platform into existing POS and payments systems and may not be Your free reader account ## Continue reading for free. Create your account or sign in to get unlimited access. 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Sign in](https://giftcard.news/login/?returnTo=%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fyoyo-rewards-provides-guidance-on-building-vs-buying-loyalty-infrastruct-80319b14735e%2F) ## Sources and documents ExpandCollapse * [Building vs Buying Loyalty Infrastructure: What Enterprises Need to Know](https://yoyorewards.com/building-vs-buying-loyalty-infrastructure/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — yoyorewards.com ## In this article ### Companies * [Yoyo](https://giftcard.news/company/yoyo/) * [Yoyo Rewards](https://giftcard.news/company/yoyo-rewards/) Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fyoyo-rewards-provides-guidance-on-building-vs-buying-loyalty-infrastruct-80319b14735e%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Yoyo%20Rewards%3A%20Build%20or%20Buy%20Loyalty%20Infrastructure%20and%20API%20Integration "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fyoyo-rewards-provides-guidance-on-building-vs-buying-loyalty-infrastruct-80319b14735e%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Yoyo%20Rewards%3A%20Build%20or%20Buy%20Loyalty%20Infrastructure%20and%20API%20Integration%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Frewards-loyalty%2Fyoyo-rewards-provides-guidance-on-building-vs-buying-loyalty-infrastruct-80319b14735e%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") ![Portrait of Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/daniel-brooks-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) About the author ## [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) Journalist — Payments, Security & PCI DSS Daniel Brooks covers payment networks, financial technology, payment security, gift card fraud and PCI DSS for Gift Card News. From reading to building ## Your next move in gift cards. Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers. [Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) ## Related articles [Rewards & Loyalty](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/) News ### [Giftbit’s Research Incentive Guide Puts Unclaimed Gift Cards and Privacy in Focus](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/giftbit-research-incentives-unclaimed-gift-cards-privacy/) [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) September 17, 2026 2 min [Rewards & Loyalty](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/) News ### [Yoyo Reports Platō Loyalty Results a Year After Card-Linked Launch](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/yoyo-plato-card-linked-loyalty-first-year-results/) [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) September 16, 2026 2 min [Rewards & Loyalty](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/) News ### [Prezzee sets out employee gift card options for work anniversaries](https://giftcard.news/rewards-loyalty/prezzee-employee-gift-card-options-work-anniversaries/) [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) September 15, 2026 2 min ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher","name":"Gift Card News","url":"https://giftcard.news/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/brand/giftcard-news-logo.svg"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/#person","name":"Daniel Brooks","url":"https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/","description":"Daniel Brooks covers payment networks, financial technology, payment security, gift card fraud and PCI DSS for Gift Card News.","jobTitle":"Journalist — Payments, Security & PCI DSS","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/daniel-brooks-editorial-portrait.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/daniel-brooks-editorial-portrait.webp","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"Illustrated portrait representing the Daniel Brooks editorial 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