Merchants engage their customers with location-based smartphone apps.
First Data Corporation, an electronic commerce and payment processing company has announced the company has acquired Perka, provider of a smart loyalty program. Perka became a First Data subsidiary in October this year and continues to operate autonomously as an innovative entrepreneurial company led by its current management and product development team.
Perka is a mobile marketing and consumer loyalty platform that helps small to medium-sized merchants engage their customers with location-based smartphone apps. The Perka Punchcard service and Perka Flexpoints for retail stores and sit-down restaurants deliver sustainable and highly personal marketing and incentive programs to consumers.
“The loyalty industry is rapidly moving from being proprietary and closed to open and interconnected. This shift opens up tremendous opportunities for small and mid-sized businesses to run virtually the same mobile marketing programs as major brands,” said Alan Chung, chief executive officer, Perka. “We’re excited to join forces with First Data to revolutionize the loyalty space and level the playing ground for smaller merchants with the Perka platform.”
“Perka is a strong addition to the offerings we have for our merchants today and we welcome them to the First Data product family,” said Guy Chiarello, president, First Data. “Loyalty is a critical component of the seamless shopping experience that consumers are demanding as they engage with mobile phones more than ever. With Perka’s open and scalable platform, merchants of any size now have agility to customize a mobile loyalty marketing program that works for their business needs.”
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