Boston Community Change Card Provides Local Rewards

The card-based loyalty program is free to consumers and available and affordable for all merchants, large or small, using transaction technology from Nietech Corporation.

Called “Boston Community Change,” the program rewards customers for shopping locally by returning a portion of each transaction, paid by participating merchants, to the customer’s designated school or nonprofit organizations, as well as a cash rebate to the consumer. Merchants decide how much of a rebate to provide, which is typically 4 to 6% of the total sale.

“This is another innovative idea to help strengthen our neighborhood business districts,” Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said. “I encourage our Main Street businesses to participate in the program, and I urge Boston residents to sign up for their card today.”

Consumers can sign up for the program online at www.bostoncommunitychange.org and receive their free card in the mail. The card is swiped at the time of sale and cash is then electronically directed to designated schools or nonprofits. Participating retailers, consumers, and benefiting organizations can all track donations at the Boston Community Change website.

Administrative costs are kept low with Nietech’s transaction processing and settlement platform, which is being used in other parts of the country and in Canada in private-label loyalty programs linking groups of online or brick-and-mortar merchants with groups of consumers.

The Boston Community Change Card program is a partnership between Boston Main Streets and the Interra Project. “We are living through a shift from the economics of scale to the economics of sociability,” said Jon Ramer, executive director of the Seattle-based not-for-profit organization. “Communities are organizing to bring about just and lasting change by shifting dollars. The Interra Project is building a network of communities that acts locally, connects regionally, and shares globally. We are proud to be launching this program in Boston and excited to be working with Nietech.”

“Community and city-based loyalty programs return money from retail commerce to each community and sustain local economies,” said Christine Koncal, chief marketing officer of Nietech Corporation. “Our loyalty platform and unique swipe technology work with any POS terminal in the market today, enabling programs to quickly launch and scale and providing merchants of all sizes with tools to measure ROI. Since purchases made with any form of payment, including cash, earn rewards, any consumer can participate.”

About Boston Main Streets

Boston Main Streets, a public-private initiative established by the City of Boston in 1995, has been the driving force behind the revitalization of the City’s neighborhood commercial districts. Local Boston Main Streets organizations follow a comprehensive approach to providing merchants and community residents with the tools and information necessary for their commercial center to compete in today’s marketplace. The program’s areas of work – organization, promotion, physical improvement, and economic restructuring – help Main Streets districts capitalize on their unique historical, cultural, and architectural assets, while addressing the economic development needs around business retention, growth, and recruitment.

About Nietech Corporation

Nietech Corporation is a payment technology company that provides hosted loyalty, payment and data services. Its unique and patent-pending transaction tracking and loyalty card enables open system data collection and rewards from all cash, check and payment card transactions made at any merchant using any POS terminal, without modification. Nietech powers private label brick-and-mortar and online geographic, caused-based, social commerce or loyalty programs without paper coupons or flash cards. By encouraging consumers to buy from local retailers, social commerce returns money to local economies and causes and supports the growth of high value local jobs. Built on its successful COMMUNITYsmart® program, Nietech enables retailers and consumers to foster sustainable, stable economies, make a profit and make a difference. For more information, go to www.nietech.com.

About The Interra Project

Interra OS is an open platform of user and member-centric social commerce services that connects social networks with financial networks. “Restorative commerce” re-circulates proceeds from purchases within a community to benefit all of its stakeholders: citizens, nonprofits, businesses, and natural ecosystems.