Wyndham Rewards First to Make Use of New Feature from Bakkt: Bakkt pay

A recent blog post from Bakkt announced that the company is debuting a new feature called Bakkt pay. This feature will allow loyalty members of partners to pay for purchases -- using their loyalty points -- as if they were paying cash. This can be done anywhere Apple Pay and Google Pay are accepted. Wyndham Rewards is the first Bakkt partner to offer this new feature to its loyalty members. 

According to the blog post:

"This capability is a big step forward for how brands can drive deeper engagement with their loyalty programs. Not only because of the opportunities it represents for loyalty program members, but also for the potential it offers to a broader range of hotel and travel companies, retailers, QSRs and more.

The longer rewards sit in the customer’s account, the more they are subject to expiration, changing values, changing terms or abandonment. This can lead to a less rewarding outcome for the customer and the business potentially misses out on providing a unique brand engagement and association — the primary reason their loyalty program exists."

To learn more about how it works for merchants, check out the blog post.