Cashpoints launches loyalty programme with confidence

New Zealand-based loyalty provider Cashpoints has launched with confidence thanks to a quality assurance (QA) and testing partnership with Assurity Consulting.

The delivery of robust QA services mitigated high-stakes technology risks and supported a problem-free rollout of its open-loop rewards programme.

The collaboration identified and resolved potential issues early, fostering trust among partners and paving the way for strong customer adoption in a competitive market, says Cashpoints founder Ian Sutcliffe.

“This new rewards programme connects New Zealand retailers with customers who see value in faster, flexible rewards. But consumers want assurance that their data is secure. We had to nail reliability and security, as any issues around data privacy risks and integration complexities would impact us at launch.”

Cashpoints enables customers to collect and spend loyalty points at multiple partners, without a minimum balance for redemption. The programme has launched with five partners, with additional brands expected to join progressively.

The programme addresses a gap left by schemes such as the discontinued FlyBuys, Sutcliffe says, providing a bias-free, managed service for retailers, and integrations for point-of-sale systems, mobile apps and partner endpoints.

With a lean in-house dev team focused on core development, Cashpoints sought external QA support. A referral led them to Assurity Consulting, recognised for its market-leading capabilities and for working with enterprise and government clients.

In delivering its quality review, Assurity deployed a local QA manager with deep knowledge of retail dynamics, working in close collaboration with its Integrated Innovation Hub in Manila, Philippines.

This unified team embedded seamlessly into Cashpoints’ operations, and importantly, aligned with its budget.

“Cost was a factor, and the combination of their Manila team and local support meant we had the expertise we needed, when we needed it,” Sutcliffe affirms.

The scope covered end-to-end validation: retailer dashboards for transaction views and invoicing, mobile apps for user engagement, admin portals for partner management, secure API endpoints for transactional handoffs and cardholder interfaces for balance checks and preferences.

The Manila team, building on Cashpoints’ framework, rapidly onboarded and developed automated scripts for regression and integration tests.

“Their work confirmed we were launch-ready, catching edge cases early and boosting confidence for our developers,” Sutcliffe adds.

“It was the perfect blend for a startup like ours,” he adds.

Assurity Consulting GM, Practice & Solutions, Reg Prasad says the company is making better systems and software quality more accessible to the broader market. “The reality is that quality isn’t bound by scale. Whether a startup or a longstanding business, systems properly assessed as fit for purpose, efficient and effective, means the ability to add value to customers without interruption or inconvenience.”

Reg adds that, through its international partnerships, Assurity is making QA services accessible to the broader market, including startups and organisations innovating to create new value propositions. “That’s a strategic enabler turning the vision of Cashpoints into a reliable reality,” he concludes.

About Cashpoints

Cashpoints is a real-time, turn-key loyalty programme, offering Kiwis rewards-and-redemption without the need to meet minimum thresholds. Cashpoints provides an off-the-shelf loyalty solution that gives Retail Partners all the benefits of having their own programme while being part of a multi-partner village.

Dubbed “loyalty in a box”, it is led by customer loyalty expert Ian Sutcliffe, co-founder of AA Smartfuel, and is supported by an experienced team who worked on the highly-engaged programme that had more than three million members.  Cashpoints is a retail coalition community of both in-store and online partners, across multiple categories. It gives retail partners all the tools they need to run their own loyalty programme, drive revenue and enhance their understanding of the consumer – all without having to build a system, worry about cyber-security or fund all of the assets and the people required to run it. Learn more at cashpoints.co.nz