Blackhawk Network and SKUx partner to empower retail promotional incentives

By Pavithra R

Global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network has announced partnering with rising FinTech company SKUx, to power the future of retail promotional incentives.

The partnership enables Blackhawk’s global network of more than 280,000 retail distribution points with solutions for seamless distribution, reconciliation, redemption, and settlement of promotional incentives and enhanced loyalty promotions.

“As we look forward towards the future of the traditional offer industry and retailer consumer loyalty programs, we recognize the overwhelming demand for increased transparency, traceability, and proof of ROI, specifically in the digital realm. The logical evolution of this space is rapidly moving towards the FinTech rails as the next-generation of commerce offerings, and SKU-level incentive capabilities become available. We see an immediate opportunity to empower our partners with incremental revenue solutions utilizing the platform technology that SKUx has developed, and continue to improve both the in-store and eCommerce consumer shopping journey,” said Bill Warshauer, vice president Sales, Blackhawk Network.

SKUx is a FinTech startup utilizing smart, patent-pending, one-time-use digital incentives known as the Smart Incentive, to drive incremental revenue and sales for brands, retailers, and marketing agencies. Customers can utilise the company’s Platform as a Service (PaaS) to engage any audience form of their choosing and provide an intuitive, seamless, frictionless consumer experience. Its platform provides a 360-degree solution set from incentive issuance through redemption, giving clients a real-time view into offer traceability and settlement, while leveraging the latest advancements in FinTech, AI and Blockchain for enhanced security and analytics.

“We are proud to be working with a retail industry leader like Blackhawk Network to provide new opportunities for retailers and brands to increase sales and drive consumer loyalty. Over the past year of collaboration with the Blackhawk Network team, we’ve realized how aligned we are from a technology and culture perspective. Now more than ever, companies are in need of solutions that can be implemented quickly and do not require heavy lifts or extensive integrations. Our partnership with Blackhawk Network further extends our abilities to offer dynamic, plug-and-play solutions to clients that can immediately impact their bottom line. It’s an exciting time,” said SKUx co-founder and executive vice president, Kenneth Douglas.

Blackhawk Network delivers branded payment programs to help meet challenging business objectives. The FinTech provides its solutions through prepaid products, technologies and network that connects brands and people. The firm was acquired in 2018 by Silver Lake and P2 Capital Partners and is being held as a private company. It has presence in over 26 countries.