SXSW Bananatown! Announcing American Express-powered Specials on foursquare!
One of the things we’re most proud of is how foursquare – through Specials and people sharing where they are – has helped local businesses all over the world. Yesterday, with our totally revamped Specials, our ability to do that increased tremendously. Today, we’re taking another huge step forward by partnering with AmEx to pilot Cardmember-exclusive Specials all around Austin during SXSW. And, it’s a big deal for AmEx too. It’s the first time they’re leveraging their Smart Offer APIs with a partner in this way. This partnership is truly game changing!
For those in Austin from March 11th until 15th, this is the easiest way to save money with foursquare yet: simply head over to http://sxsw.amexnetwork.com, link your foursquare and AmEx accounts, and you’ll start seeing “Spend $5, Get $5” Specials at more than 50 local merchants in Austin (heads up: these discounts only can be applied to your personal card, not a corporate one). When you check in and see the Special, just tap ‘Load to Card’ in foursquare, swipe your card to pay, and you’ll see the $5 savings within 3 to 5 days on your American Express card statement.
No coupons, no mail-in rebates, you don’t even have to explain it to anyone (unless you want to convince your friends to use it, too); just check in, use your AmEx, and get the savings. If you have push notifications turned on, you’ll get a message on your phone letting you know that you’ve saved $5!
American Express is also using this to help one of their favorite charities: Grounded in Music. The first time you swipe your card to redeem a Special, American Express will also donate $1 (and you’ll get a Special AmEx badge). Grounded in Music is a wonderful local Austin nonprofit that leverages the power of music to transform young lives by creating self-confidence, opportunity and hope.
This is the first pilot of an amazing program; if all goes well, we look forward to rolling this out more broadly in the near future.
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