Google Pay and Rakuten Partner for In-Store Rewards Program

Need to Know

• Customers who use Google Pay can now earn cashback rewards when they shop with participating retailers via the Rakuten In-Store Network.
• Google Pay users can add card-linked offers through the Android and iOS Google Pay apps.
• Rakuten’s In-Store Network encompasses 39,000 merchant locations (including adidas, Dell, and more) and reaches more than 100 million customers.

Analysis

Rakuten, the massive cash-back site, has partnered with Google Pay to offer cashback rewards to Google Pay users who shop with Rakuten’s In-Store Network of participating retailers.

The partnership will enable Google Pay users to add card-linked offers from Rakuten to their accounts, via the Android and iOS Google Pay apps. They will then be able to earn cash-back rewards when they check out with Rakuten’s retail partners, which include H&M, Gap, and Adidas, using Google Pay, or with a linked physical credit card.

“As contactless payments become the norm, consumer adoption of mobile wallets is growing at a tremendous rate. Delivering merchant offers directly to their phones will be an increasingly important tool for incentivizing consumers to fill their shopping carts,” said Erin Warren, general manager at Rakuten In-Store Network. “Adding Google Pay to our network dramatically expands our reach and positions us to continually deliver incremental in-store and online traffic and revenue to our participating merchants.”

Rakuten works by linking a payment card — in this case, a card that’s linked to a user’s Google Pay account — to the platform, which then automatically rewards a customer when they use that linked card to make a purchase. With the new Google Pay integration, once a consumer activates a Rakuten offer within the app, Google will look for that charge on their linked card. The cashback rewards will then be allotted, without the customer needing to redeem or input a code. Rakuten’s In-Store Network comprises 39,000 merchant locations and is used by more than 100 million customers

“The Google Pay platform creates opportunities for merchants to deepen customer engagement in creative ways with offers, rewards, and customized, dynamic content,” said Josh Woodward, director, Google Pay. “What sets the offers experience apart in Google Pay is the simplicity and the ease of use. Users can add these offers with a few taps to their cards and earn rewards when they use Google Pay or pay with their card.”

The Rakuten integration is just the latest in a significant number of updates Google has recently rolled out to Google Pay, as the company works to accommodate an increased focus on contactless payment and one-stop online finance management. These include the ability to pay bills, send money, and view past transactions within Pay, plus the ability to split payments with groups of other users, and order food or pay for gas without navigating away from the app. Google is also partnering with 11 banks to launch a new bank account, called Plex, that will be accessed exclusively through Google Pay. Plex is slated to launch in 2021.