PayU, an online payments solutions provider, has announced the launch of ‘Pay with Rewards’ initiative, India’s largest online aggregation of loyalty programs across brands, in partnership with twid, a reward points-based payment network.

By aggregating loyalty points and alternate currencies of multiple brands on a single platform, consumers can pay for up to 100% of their purchases through rewards and loyalty points. Consumers can use Flipkart SuperCoins, OlaMoney, TimesPoints, banks on NPCI’s nth Rewards platform, airline miles, bank reward points, and others, across different merchants, at checkout to settle their full bill amount.

With the integration of ‘Pay with Rewards’, merchants can access a potential base of 350+ million consumers of these large loyalty programs. Additionally, merchants will also be able to access loyalty points of different brands worth INR 4,000 crore.

The initiative is expected to increase average customer spend by up to 30% and repeat purchases by over 200% for the same merchant. It is also expected to drive additional liquidity in the market and deliver an unparalleled loyalty redemption experience.

Commenting on the partnership, Rishi Batra, Co-Founder, twid says "We are very excited to partner with PayU and contribute large business to their merchant partners through “Pay with Rewards" payment method. This is just the beginning and we envision aggregate over INR 18,000 Crores worth of Reward Points only in India through our upcoming partnerships with banks and brands as point issuers."

Often customers do not redeem reward points due to the complexity and limited applicability of loyalty programs.

'Pay with Rewards' integrates a large network of point issuers and the merchant needs only a single integration to bring multiple loyalty program partners under one roof. Thus, reward points have the potential to become a universal currency that can be used across different sectors, lowering barriers to redemption and helping drive customers towards partner brands.

Nalin Bansal, Chief of Corporate Relationships & Fintechs NPCI, said, "NPCI has developed nth Rewards as one of the most robust loyalty management platforms not just for banks but also for the emerging space of fintechs and startups. In order to make consumers' shopping experience more rewarding, we have introduced the unique functionality of paying online merchants with nth Reward points through our partnership with twid. We at NPCI, will continue to innovate around payments for our customers and on the other hand, our merchants will benefit from millions of our captive consumers".

Commenting on the initiative and partnership Mohit Gopal, Senior Vice President, PayU India said, "As a leader in the digital payment space, PayU aims to be at the forefront of bringing innovation, and accessibility to merchants and consumers alike. Through ‘Pay with Rewards’, merchants can drive value, improve retention, acquire new consumers and reap the benefits of the loyalty economy. We are very excited to partner with twid to bring this latest innovation for our merchants."