UK's First Market Loyalty Smart Card Launched by Bolton Council With sQuid

BOLTON, England, November 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Bolton Council leads the way this week with the launch of the UK's first market-based loyalty smart card.

The market plays a crucial role in the success of Bolton town centre and draws thousands of people in every year from near and far.

The launch of the loyalty card scheme is one of the ways in which the council aims to secure the future of the market in years to come - by providing a fresh way for customers to engage with traders and to be rewarded for their loyalty.

Employing the latest contactless smart card technology and electronic loyalty from sQuid, the pilot scheme is being trialled for six months with 10 of the market traders.

Local celebrity chef Aazam Ahmad will help to launch the scheme on Tuesday, November 22 and will be on hand to give a cookery demonstration from 11.30am-12.30pm using some of the local produce at Bolton Market.

With a generous reward programme of 10% cashback each time a card-holder purchases from a participating trader, the plan is to extend the scheme to all of the market traders when the pilot has been assessed.

Cards can be registered online, and when they register account holders can also opt to be notified about special offers and deals from Bolton Market and the traders taking part.

Councillor Akthar Zaman Bolton Council's Executive Member for Environmental Services commented: "We believe that this is the first scheme of its kind in the country and one that incentivises local people to support local producers and businesses.

"This initiative continues to demonstrate the Council's commitment to Bolton Market and I am aware that the outcomes from the trial are eagerly anticipated by the industry as a whole"

sQuid already operate a number of payment and loyalty schemes in Bolton, with the Council, University, College and Arriva buses as well as local retailers.

Bede Feltham, Marketing Director at sQuid added: "It's great to see another application of sQuid in Bolton and we're glad to be part of this loyalty-based initiative at Bolton Market.

"sQuid's unique integrated payments and loyalty network is a great way to help local retailers build valuable relationships with their customers. We look forward to seeing this grow."