Rewards and Benefits
Loyalty communication
Plan clear loyalty messages about balances, reward expiry and rule changes while keeping promotional volume proportionate.
Loyalty communication should help members understand what they have, what changes next and what they can do. Start with the program’s rules and account records.
A balance update, an expiry notice and a promotion serve different purposes. Each needs its own clear answer.
Give each message one job
Map when members need information: joining, earning, reaching a reward, approaching expiry and facing a rule change. Decide what they should understand or be able to do after each message.
Some information belongs on a receipt or account screen, where it remains available, instead of in another email.
| Member question | Information to provide | Useful place to provide it |
|---|---|---|
| What did I earn? | The qualifying transaction, point status and updated balance | Receipt or account history |
| Can I use a reward? | The available reward and its material conditions | Account or claim path |
| Will value expire? | What expires, when and what can still be done | Account view and a timely notice where appropriate |
| Are the rules changing? | The old and new rules, effective date and treatment of existing value | Direct notice and accessible terms |
Use the transaction record behind each statement. Polished copy cannot resolve a balance that staff cannot explain.
Keep balances and entitlements distinct
A points total may include available and pending points, while an issued voucher may have its own expiry date. Name the thing that changes.
Do not say “your rewards expire” when only one voucher does, or imply pending points can be spent.
A balance message should show when its figures were current, explain relevant changes and offer a route to query an error. Use the same status definitions in the account, messages and staff guidance.
Put conditions beside benefits
State any restriction that could change a member’s decision, such as an eligible product, minimum spend, booking limit, channel or deadline. Check the subject line and preview text as well as the body.
A prominent benefit should not be contradicted by a qualification that appears later.
For an approaching expiry, identify the affected value and a usable next step.
Make important notices visible
Give high-consequence information enough prominence to be noticed before a member acts or misses an opportunity.
The ACCC has suggested making an approaching points expiry more prominent. It gives the example of alerting members in an email subject line, rather than relying on information buried in the message.
Check that the most important point survives the journey from notification to action. The subject line should identify the issue, and the linked account view or terms should let members find the details.
Make the link open to the relevant account information rather than a general landing page.
Separate account information from promotion
Keep account information and promotional content distinct. A sale offer can distract from the purpose of a factual notice, so use a separate message where practical.
Keep marketing preferences available to the sending team. Plan how important account information will reach members who have opted out of promotions, and assess the actual message and channel before sending.
For commercial electronic messages, consult the ACMA’s guidance on avoiding spam: acma.gov.au.
Handle personalisation with care
Personalised messages can depend on information collected through a loyalty scheme. Review what data informs the message and whether the member would reasonably expect that use.
In its 2019 report, the ACCC raised concerns about vague privacy policies and broad consents, as well as targeted advertising based on member profiling.
The ACCC also identified risks where profiling could lead to different consumers being offered different prices for an identical product or service.
Keep the communication understandable without exposing or relying on assumptions members may not expect.
The ACCC called on loyalty schemes to improve their data practices and stop automatically linking members’ payment cards to scheme profiles.
Key Regulatory Guidance for Loyalty Communications in Australia
- ACCC Risk: Price Discrimination via Profiling
- Different prices for identical products/services
- ACMA Spam Prevention Guidance
- Required for commercial electronic messages
- ACCC Enforcement Power
- Can require substantiation of claims
Control volume across the journey
Different teams may schedule a balance update, reward prompt and campaign for the same member on the same day. Review planned sends together.
Give priority to a real deadline or change in entitlement; consider an account view or periodic digest for minor updates. Do not hide a material change merely to meet a campaign frequency target.
Review opt-outs, support questions and failed claims alongside delivery and engagement. Opens and clicks do not show whether members understood a rule or could use a reward.
Where misunderstanding matters, ask members to explain the message and compare their answer with the account record.
Use member feedback to review communications
Treat reports of unclear or misleading information as a reason to check the message against the member’s account and the program’s actual practice.
The ACCC accepts reports about possible misleading behaviour and can use them to inform education, compliance and enforcement work, but it does not investigate individual complaints.
The ACCC can require businesses to substantiate claims about their products or services and may investigate misleading claims.
Review whether a message’s claims can be supported by the relevant account record and whether the member can understand what applies to them.
In this guide
- Writing a clear points balance messageShow available, pending and expiring points clearly, explain balance changes and give members a useful next step.
- Explaining an approaching reward expiry noticeWrite an expiry notice that names the affected reward, the deadline, the required action and any material conditions.
- Announcing a programme change transparentlyExplain loyalty rule changes with old and new terms, effective dates and clear treatment of existing points and rewards.
- How to avoid too many messages about low-value benefitsDecide when a small loyalty benefit warrants a message, combine overlapping sends and respect member preferences.
