First Data is paying a lot of attention to startups (and small businesses) these days, and as part of that effort, announced its second acquisition of a payments startup this month. The company announced today that it has acquired Perka, a cardless mobile-based loyalty platform that designs customer loyalty programs for small to medium businesses. Terms were not disclosed. Perka exited stealth mode two years ago, in October 2011, calling itself the “antidote” to the daily deals sites proliferating at the time. Intended to be more merchant-friendly than Groupon, Perka alerts merchants when users check into the store, and only gives rewards after purchases are made. Perka’s business was described by TechCrunch as bringing “those ‘Buy 10, Get 1 Free’ punch cards we know and love” online. The key value to the merchant is the data, and not needing to give the store away with offers, but rather capitalizing on already loyal customers. Perka CEO Alan Chung described his company to Bank Innovation as a “CRM service for merchants, providing insights a paper punch card program cannot.” “Loyalty is a critical component of the seamless shopping experience that consumers are demanding as they engage with mobile phones more than ever,” [...]
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