In what the credit card giant is calling a natural fit, American Express is teaming with foursquare to simplify consumer access to the best offers and opportunities in the mobile world. American and Express and Foursquare are rolling out a new functionality that provides an innovative way of redeeming merchant offers within the foursquare app without the need for coupons, special codes or showing phones to cashiers.
The pilot program underway in Austin, Texas at the South by Southwest conference will allow foursquare users to load a variety of pertinent offers onto their American Express card and then — you guessed it — use the card at one of the participating merchant’s stores.
The American Express APIs also enable notifications, so when enrolled Cardmembers use their American Express Card to pay, they will receive a message indicating that a statement credit will be issued. According to the venerable credit card company, this eliminates the need for merchants to train their front-line staff to redeem the offers and it also enables them to easily and effectively measure the success of their location-based marketing efforts.
American Express says it has used their APIs for certain merchant programs in the past, “but this marks the first time American Express is leveraging the Smart Offer APIs with a third-party partner.”
“As the social web becomes increasingly mobile, it’s a must to deliver value to customers where they are, with the technology they use every day,” said Ed Gilligan, Vice Chairman of American Express. “Foursquare is the ideal partner to break new ground as we expand the use of our digital assets, bringing great value to merchants and Cardmembers…and there’s much more to come.”