User:Kku/Payback (loyalty card)

Payback is a loyalty program and customer card and a registered trademark of its owner company Payback GmbH (headquarters in Munich ), a subsidiary of Loyalty Partner GmbH with shares held by Palamon Capital Partners, Roland Berger and Metro AG. The system is based on data mining on the customer data collected whenever the customer uses the Payback card at the point of sale. In contrast to programs limited to single companies, supermarkets, etc., Payback works across retailers. Since 2010, Payback GmbH and Loyalty Partners is owned by American Express.

The marketing program exists in Germany (introduced 2000), Poland (2009) India (2010) (see PAYBACK India), USA (2015-2018, see Plenti), and Austria (2018).

Payback is market leader in Germany and India.

History
Payback was created and developed by Alexander Rittweger, a previous business consultant, who worked for Lufthansa’s Miles and More program. The success of this frequent flyer scheme led him to create a multi-partner program with the participation of Germany’s largest retail and service companies. In 1998, together with Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Roland Berger, he established Loyalty Partner GmbH.

In Germany, Payback was launched in the year 2000. Payback became a market leader with 35 retail companies and more than 600 online partners.

Poland was the first international market targeted by Payback and the program was launched in September 2009. Within six months, the number of active Payback Cards exceeded five million.

In June 2010, Payback took over a controlling stake in India's leading loyalty program "i-mint" and has ever since expanded its associations with over 100 partners and millions of customers.