New Partnership Announcement: Prosper²

Prosper², which runs a business club and rewards programme, is adopting a gutsy approach to the economic crisis.  Rather than cost-cutting, the company is investing in new staff, training and marketing in preparation for the growth period that will follow.

Transact Payments Limited (TPL) works in close partnership with Prosper² as the card issuer for its rewards programme. Noel Smith, TPL’s Business Development Director, said: “We’re proud to be working with a forward-thinking partner who is actively engaging with employees and customers to find a way through the current economic crisis. Prosper² is setting a great example for other businesses that might be struggling to know how to respond to the economic challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

While many businesses hunkered down as the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis took hold, the exclusive business club – which offers membership to business owners and directors – was planning materials to support its members during this period and investing in staff training.

“Rather than locking our business down to get through the crisis, we decided to look after our staff, increase our engagement with our members and invest for the future,” says Gerald Bradley, Prosper²’s Commercial Director.

Gerald and his team have been speaking with Prosper² members throughout the lockdown to support them and understand what help they need going forward. One message has come through loud and clear – businesses are feeling scared and uncertain about what comes next.

To help members understand the new normal, Prosper² has teamed up with world renowned commentators to provide a briefing series on the economic impacts of Covid-19, what to expect and how to survive during this time. The business club will continue to provide these briefings on a monthly basis to guide and support its members through the recession.

“While our response to the coronavirus crisis has meant we’ve taken some hit on revenue, we’re now ready to take advantage of the opportunities that the easing of the lockdown will bring – and we want to help put our members in the same position” says Gerald.

Generating customer loyalty

It hopes to do that with Prosper² Rewards, which enables any sized business to launch a fully managed loyalty scheme at very low cost.  While most loyalty programmes only allow customers to spend points in store or with a restricted list of suppliers, the Prosper² Rewards prepaid card, issued by Transact Payments Limited (TPL), lets cardholders redeem points anywhere they see the Mastercard ®,

“Working with TPL has been a great experience for us. Through their knowledge, expertise and network, they have been able to help us to realise our vision for Prosper² Rewards,” says Gerald.

The open-loop nature of Prosper² Rewards is truly innovative in the customer loyalty card market. “For the first time, this market is offering an intelligent loyalty card that gives customers complete freedom on how to spend their rewards,” says Gerald.

Members of Prosper² Rewards report positive feedback from their customers. Kieron Blamey, Technical Director or construction company RH Solutions, who previously thought customer loyalty cards were for supermarkets and petrol stations, says: “It’s a cracking differentiator for our business and the reaction from customers has been positive. It’s like inviting our contacts to a private club. It’s engaging  and makes us a preferred supplier.”

A hassle-free joining experience

For a monthly subscription fee, members receive access to the business club, with all its benefits, and prepaid Mastercards to offer to their most valued customers. To top up customers’ loyalty cards with more points, members can simply buy them by logging on to the Prosper² Membership Portal, which is a secure, cloud-based platform.

Members can decide what they offer customers reward points for. It could be for each new order, for referring a new customer, and even for paying invoices on time. Whatever the reason, Prosper² will take away the headache of setting up, marketing and managing the programme. Not only that, the partnership with TPL allows it to offer a white label option for members that want to see their own business branding on the prepaid Mastercards.

A leading network work of payment solutions providers

TPL has brought a number of leading players in the payments market together to deliver Prosper² Rewards, including payment processor GPS, digital solutions provider Pannovate and payment network AllPay.