Bink, the Payment Linked Loyalty business, has closed an over-subscribed £10m funding round led by Barclays which will take a minority stake in the firm. Bink will use the funding to bring its platform to a broader group of retailers and consumers across the globe.
Bink was founded in 2015 to address the frustrations of retail loyalty programmes, which have neither kept pace with technology, nor with how people want to shop and interact with their favourite brands. Bink’s unique technology solution, Payment Linked Loyalty, allows customers’ payment cards to be securely linked to loyalty programmes, enabling every customer to be identified and rewarded every time they shop.
Retailers that partner with Bink benefit from more accurate information about their customers and their spending habits as the Bink technology identifies shoppers at point of sale every time they use their linked payment card. The platform also makes it easier for merchants to acquire new members to their loyalty programmes while also benefiting from increased efficiencies at the point of sale, as cashiers will no longer need to scan membership cards.
Mike Jordan, CEO, said: “This is an extremely exciting time for Bink. Our strategic partnership with Barclays coupled with our latest funding round and strengthened leadership team, means that we are well positioned to realise our ambitions in the year ahead.
“We will deliver our unique Payment Linked Loyalty platform to many more merchants and millions of consumers across the globe, which will revolutionise the loyalty and payment experience.”
Ruchir Rodrigues, head of digital and Open Banking at Barclays, said: “Bink has created a practical and innovative solution to an everyday problem and we’re excited to support them in the next stage of their growth.”