June 22, 2011
American Express is embracing location-based mobile couponing. The credit card company is joining with location-based social media site foursquare to roll out their couponless coupon program nationwide. The rollout follows a successful test of the program at this year's South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
The program allows American Express cardholders to link their foursquare profiles to their cards and receive offers and promotions to their mobile devices by "checking in" at participating merchants like H&M and Sports Authority. The offer is then loaded to the customer's American Express card. After a purchase is made at the merchant's location using the enrolled card the offer is credited to the cardholder's account.
"The success of our pilot just a few months ago proved that American Express' digital capabilities and foursquare's expanding application created something extremely powerful," American Express Vice Chairman Ed Gilligan said. "We're thrilled to take this partnership to the next level. For us, this is just the beginning."