Rain has launched Rewards, a program that enables stablecoin card issuers to supply branded loyalty packages with factors, journey rewards, and assertion credit straight inside their very own apps.
The providing builds on Rain’s 2025 acquisition of rewards platform Uptop and is one other instance of fintech infrastructure suppliers increasing past funds into adjoining companies like loyalty, id, fraud prevention, and treasury administration.
As stablecoin card packages mature, suppliers are more and more competing on buyer engagement and retention, making rewards and different value-added companies important somewhat than non-obligatory options.
Stablecoin infrastructure platform Rain launched Rewards this week, a brand new loyalty functionality for its card issuing stack. With Rewards, companions operating Rain’s card packages can provide rewards for his or her cardholders in a totally branded expertise.
Rain was based in 2021 and has since launched greater than 100 packages on its stablecoin-powered cost infrastructure platform. The corporate permits companions to maneuver, retailer, and use stablecoins immediately by world cost playing cards, rewards, on and off ramps, digital wallets, and cross-border rails. Rain’s playing cards work at greater than 175 million service provider places in over 220 international locations and territories.
The brand new Rewards functionality is on the market to assist each Rain associate compete with conventional fiat packages which have constructed loyal buyer bases that drive increased spend. Simply as with conventional card packages within the fiat realm, companions set this system title, outline earn charges, and configure rewards redemption on the program degree. The redemption expertise for finish clients is constructed into the associate’s app. Prospects can apply factors to an announcement steadiness or redeem them by a white-labeled journey portal for accommodations and flights. Rain plans so as to add extra redemption presents quickly.
“Card packages that win right this moment are those that give folks a purpose to maintain spending, and rewards have all the time been some of the dependable methods to do this,” stated CEO and Co-Founder Rain Farooq Malik. “What our group has constructed lets any associate launch a loyalty program that appears like theirs. The economics and the branding are totally of their arms, and Rain has eliminated the combination work and vendor overhead that has traditionally saved rewards out of attain for therefore many packages.”
Powering the brand new Rewards program is Rain’s 2025 acquisition of onchain rewards platform Uptop. On the time, the deal signaled Rain’s intention to broaden past funds infrastructure and into buyer engagement instruments. Relatively than treating rewards as an add-on service, Rain is integrating loyalty straight into its platform in order that stablecoin card packages can provide lots of the similar experiences that buyers have come to anticipate from conventional credit score and debit card merchandise.
Rain’s acquisition of Uptop is one other instance of the rising urge for food amongst fintech infrastructure suppliers to personal extra of the companies that sit adjoining to funds. Relatively than appearing solely as transaction processors, infrastructure corporations are more and more constructing or buying capabilities similar to rewards, id, fraud prevention, stablecoin settlement, and treasury administration. The technique helps suppliers seize a bigger share of potential income whereas making their platforms tougher for purchasers to switch.
The launch comes because the stablecoin card market is beginning to kind its personal id. Early crypto card packages differentiated themselves by entry to digital belongings, however in addition they have to compete with conventional card issuers on buyer expertise, engagement, and retention. As stablecoin-powered cost merchandise grow to be extra mainstream, options like rewards, journey perks, and loyalty packages are prone to grow to be desk stakes somewhat than differentiators.
The announcement follows a profitable beta with Avalanche Card, a crypto-backed Visa card that enables customers to spend their USDC and AVAX stablecoins anyplace Visa is accepted. Throughout the trial, cardholders enrolled within the Rewards program spent 25% greater than these with out it.
Photograph by Cihan Yüce
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