Another perspective
Two days ago HEXUS.channel wrote a piece entitled "How often do you check your bank statements?" in which we highlighted the case of a HEXUS reader that felt they had been paying a monthly to a service called Shopper Discounts and Rewards without realizing it.
We sent some questions to Webloyalty, the company behind the service, at the time and have now received its response.
In keeping with the HEXUS Right2Reply policy what follows is a copy of its reply, verbatim. Webloyalty also sent several images, but in order to keep the article to a manageable length we're only publishing what we consider to be the most illustrative of them and they appear at the end of the piece.
Typically how do people become members of Shopper Discounts and Rewards?
Webloyalty, owner of the Shopper Discounts & Rewards programme, partners with online retail and travel companies. These online businesses offer their customers the opportunity to join the programme via the confirmation page of their website. Customers completing a purchase on a partner's site see a ‘button' on the confirmation page - offering them the opportunity to get cash back towards their next purchase at the client site.
Customers clicking on this ‘button' see an offer page from Shopper Discounts & Rewards explaining they are eligible for the cash back voucher if they join the Shopper Discounts & Rewards programme. The offer page details the fact that membership is free for the first 30 days and only £10 a month thereafter.
The membership details are all in a prominent location on the Shopper Discounts & Rewards offer page - in the initial paragraphs, and immediately next to the acceptance button (‘Yes' button) in the Offer & Billing Details section plus they are repeated in multiple other locations on the offer page. In order to join the programme the customer needs to finish four affirmative actions: click the ‘continue' button on the banner, enter and re-enter their email and click "yes" on the offer page.
Webloyalty does not accept credit or debit card information from an online partners' business until the customer expressly consents to the transfer and completes his or her enrolment immediately below language similar to the following:
- "By entering my email as my electronic signature and clicking YES, I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Offer and Billing Details and authorise ABC Client Company to securely transfer my name, address and credit or debit card information to Shopper Discounts & Rewards for billing and benefit processing. I understand the first 30 days of benefits are free and I will be billed £10 a month thereafter"
Such information is transferred to us in an encrypted format.