Rewards revolution: How Twid's Google Wallet integration is reshaping India's loyalty landscape

India's digital payments ecosystem is on the cusp of a major transformation, and at the heart of this shift lies a burgeoning focus on rewards programs. As consumers increasingly seek value and convenience, platforms that simplify and amplify the rewards experience are gaining traction. This is where Twid, a leading reward points aggregator, steps in with its integration into Google Wallet.

In an exclusive interview with Business Today, Amit Koshal, CEO & Co-Founder of Twid, delves into the transformative potential of this partnership and its implications for both consumers and businesses across India. From streamlining rewards management to boosting financial inclusion, Twid wants to redefine how Indians earn, redeem, and benefit from loyalty programs in the digital age.

PD: In what ways will Twid's integration with Google Wallet streamline the rewards experience for users in India

Amit Koshal: The partnership of Twid with Google Wallet is to enhance Google Wallet's value proposition in India for users to view and manage all their loyalty program points and rewards. With Twid’s substantial points pool of $2.2 billion with affiliations to notable bank and brand loyalty points consolidates into one convenient location within the popular Google Wallet app.

More significantly, Twid's integration with Google Wallet represents a major leap forward in empowering Indian consumers to easily access their accumulated reward points and be able to spend at over 100,000+ merchants through Twid's network. This positions Google Wallet as a pioneering one-stop shop for users to manage all their rewards and loyalty points. 

PD: In what ways would a consolidated rewards payment network benefit both consumers and businesses in India?

Amit Koshal: A consolidated rewards payment network yields significant benefits for both consumers and businesses in India's rapidly evolving digital economy. For consumers, it provides a unified platform to view and manage all loyalty points from various issuers in one place. It unlocks the flexibility to seamlessly utilise these accumulated rewards as currency for any purchase - with a frictionless experience free from fragmentation, expiries and redemption restrictions.

With a user base access exceeding 150 million users, Twid has a vast community utilising its reward earn and burn facilities. Through collaboration with Twid, merchants are providing their customers an opportunity to redeem or earn their reward points from multiple issuers at the checkout page ensuring hassle-free discounts on their purchases. 

As the gap is shrinking in the uniqueness of products and services offered by multiple businesses, loyalty programmes are emerging as the deciding factor for customers when making purchase decisions.  Merchant partners of Twid across sectors — groceries, travel, entertainment, hyperlocal and e-commerce — have seen an average of 5% increase in customer conversions, 20% increase in average order value and over 15% savings of merchant marketing spends since integrating “Pay with Rewards” at the checkout page. 

PD:⁠ How can reward payment networks strike a balance between collecting valuable data and respecting consumer privacy?

Amit Koshal: Data is the lifeblood of reward payment networks, which rely on user-authorised information like transaction details to fuel their platforms and provide a valuable experience. However, maintaining consumer trust requires taking data privacy extremely seriously in an era of frequent data breaches and misuse scandals. The industry must adhere strictly to data protection regulations, never share personal information without explicit consent, and give customers full freedom to decide what they want to share.

PD: ⁠How Twid will play an important role in promoting the financial inclusion of underserved populations? 

Amit Koshal: Financial inclusion is a major challenge in India, with around 190 million adults lacking access to mainstream banking services. Twid's rewards platform drives greater inclusion by allowing underserved groups from millennials to Gen Z who are either new to credit or yet to start their credit journeys, to start using digital payments as the same will give them rewards earning and savings, for everyday purchases across 100,000+ merchants. This unlocks real purchasing power and flexible payment capabilities catered to their needs.

As these underbanked users use Twid, their data helps establish financial identities and credit profiles over time. This creates pathways to access credit, lending, and other banking services they were previously excluded from. Twid provides a user-friendly, low-barrier product aligned with increasing financial participation for underserved Indians

PD: Please elaborate on the key regulatory and compliance challenges faced by Twid, particularly when dealing with cross-border transactions and data privacy concerns.

Amit Koshal: We do not accept cross-border currencies on our platform currently. However, we take data privacy very seriously and have all the necessary safeguards in place. Also, since we are in the Fintech domain and deal with lots of nationalised and private banks, we are heavily regulated and need to be compliant with the latest rules and regulations, as prescribed by the rule of the land. We strive to achieve this by ensuring that we follow all the compliance regulations diligently and by having our systems scanned/verified periodically by CERTIN-approved 3rd party vendors/tools. We also have the necessary and requisite certifications in this regard.