SAN FRANCISCO, May 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SKUx, an innovative payments technology and consumer engagement platform, today announced the launch of a new card program with Highnote, the embedded finance company setting a new standard in modern card platform management. The partnership, which comes on the heels of SKUx’s $11 million Series A, further empowers SKUx to continue transforming how rewards, refunds, emergency disbursements, and other payments are delivered, redeemed, and reported. The new card product eliminates longstanding challenges facing brands and merchants managing rewards programs and potentially unlocks significant global incremental retail value.

The digitization of consumer retail is ubiquitous except in the realm of merchant rewards and payments – discounts, rebates, refunds, promotions, etc. – where little has changed in decades. This lack of digitization results in millions of dollars lost every year in poor customer experience, manual financial reconciliation, and fragmented processes. Now, SKUx’s solutions enable consumer brands, merchants, emergency and charitable organizations, and others to deliver precision payments instantly and seamlessly, saving brands and merchants money while delighting their customers.

“It’s hard to appreciate the magnitude of money that flows between merchants and their customers, in light of just how outdated and clunky the systems to move that money are,” says Bobby Tinsley, Co-founder and President of SKUx. “SKUx saw an industry that was beyond ripe for disruption, and we built a digitally transformative solution for it. We are obsessed with powering the best experiences by providing payments at the speed of today’s consumer – designing products optimized for digital wallets, mobile payments, and QR codes. Our partnership with Highnote enables us to continue this vision at both the quality and service our clients demand.”

SKUx’s new solution powered by Highnote enhances value and experience for both the merchants and the consumers.

• Access to Co-Branded, Digital Cards: Consumers receive instant access to digital cards that can be stored in a mobile wallet. The cards can feature customer branding, and consumers can use them to quickly and easily take advantage of rewards, refunds, and other payments.
• Enhanced Relationship Management: Brands and merchants can transform a single payments experience into the catalyst of a long-term relationship unlocking value and increasing brand affinity.
• Flexibility: Each card program can be configured with features and functionality specific to each brand’s desired customer experience, leading to greater brand affinity, stronger financial and risk controls, and improved return on investment.
  

SKUx offers a range of breakthrough products and solutions using Highnote’s card platform technology—from SKUx Customer Care and Recovery, a trailblazing new way for companies to streamline and digitize their response to product recalls and individual customer complaints, to SKUx Crisis Disbursements, which streamline emergency payments to individuals in a crisis emergency. The new offerings serve as a complement to SKUPay®, SKUx’s patented solution for product-based payments that are redeemed at the point of purchase.

“The average consumer has become more digitally savvy, and their expectations around ease of use and instant access to funds have risen,” says John MacIlwaine, CEO of Highnote. “SKUx has tapped into this trend by providing more elegant and modern solutions to consumer needs, and we couldn’t be more proud to be their enabler in driving this digital transformation. We look forward to jointly using our technologies to empower some of the most well-known brands on the planet by taking their financial relationships with consumers to the next level.”

To learn more about SKUx, visit skux.io. To learn more about Highnote, visit highnote.com.

About SKUx
SKUx powers product-based payments at the speed of today’s consumer. We deliver seamless consumer engagement through a patented platform that combines first-party data, mobile branding, offer serialization, secure digital payments, and settlement to deliver incremental revenues and real-time transparency for merchants, brands, and payment partners.

For more information, visit skux.io.

About Highnote
Highnote is an embedded finance company setting a new standard in modern card platform management. Purpose-built to realize customer loyalty and engagement through embedded card experiences, its fully integrated tech stack provides every service needed for innovative companies to launch new ways to use card payments. Utilizing the developer-friendly Highnote platform, product and engineering teams at digital enterprises of all sizes can easily and efficiently embed virtual and physical payment cards (commercial and consumer prepaid, debit, credit, and charge), ledger, and wallet capabilities into their existing products, creating compelling value for users while growing revenue and building a unique and differentiated brand. The company has raised more than $100 million from leading investors and strategic partners and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For additional information, please visit www.highnote.com.

Highnote issuing statement:
This card is issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A Inc.

Media Contact: Jillian Smith, jsmith@highnote.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/03b9cf75-e14b-44f5-aebc-176383ff09c4