Loyalty wallets have become the digital home base for customer engagement. Points, perks, personalized offers, and status now live side by side inside branded apps and digital experiences. For loyalty providers and the brands they serve, wallets are where relationships are built and reinforced over time.
But most loyalty wallets stop short of their full potential.
They track rewards, but they don’t hold money.
The missing layer in loyalty wallets
Today’s loyalty platforms are designed to manage incentives, not funds. Points and rewards may carry perceived value, but they aren’t real money. Customers can’t save for future purchases, preload value, or move funds seamlessly within the loyalty experience.
That limitation matters.
When a wallet can hold real consumer funds—securely and compliantly—it becomes more than a rewards container. It becomes a financial touchpoint that drives frequency, increases spend, and fundamentally changes the economics of loyalty programs. This foundation supports a wide range of use cases, from loyalty wallet providers expanding beyond points, to member clubs and subscription programs enabling pre-funded value, to gift card ecosystems evolving into stored-value accounts, as well as travel, retail, fuel, grocery, and QSR brands looking to increase engagement and capture more spend within their own ecosystems.
What stored value unlocks
Adding stored value to a loyalty wallet allows consumers to load real funds into their loyalty wallet or account and use them over time. Those funds can be spent directly with the merchant, paired with rewards at checkout, or accessed through a branded debit card.
For customers, this creates convenience and flexibility:
- Preload value for future purchases
- Combine stored funds with points or incentives
- Pay faster, with fewer steps at checkout
For businesses and loyalty providers, adding the ability to hold funds introduces entirely new economic levers:
- Customer balances generate yield until spent
- Debit card usage creates interchange revenue
- Pre-funded wallets increase purchase frequency
- Rewards become partially self-funding
- Breakage becomes measurable, predictable revenue
This is why models like the Starbucks app have proven so powerful. Customers willingly preload funds, return more often, and stay inside the brand ecosystem, while the business benefits from improved margins and cash flow.
Why most loyalty platforms can’t offer stored value
Holding and moving customer funds isn’t a feature, it’s a regulated financial activity.
Most loyalty platforms aren’t licensed to:
- Safeguard customer balances
- Perform KYC and AML checks
- Issue debit cards
- Move money via ACH or bank-to-bank rails
That’s not a technology gap — it’s a regulatory one.
How Alviere enables stored value without the burden
Alviere provides the licensed financial infrastructure that allows loyalty platforms to embed stored-value accounts directly into their existing wallet experience.
With a single API integration, loyalty providers can enable:
- Stored customer balances (Starbucks-style wallets)
- ACH, pay-by-bank, or card-based funding
- Branded debit cards tied to wallet balances
- Instant rewards via cash-back, points, or bonus value
Alviere manages:
- Licensing and regulatory oversight
- KYC, AML, and fraud prevention
- Fund safeguarding and ledgering
- Transaction monitoring and reconciliation
The loyalty provider owns the customer relationship, UX, and keeps the brand front and center, while behind the scenes, Alviere operates the regulated financial infrastructure.
Turning loyalty into a revenue engine
When customers hold value in a loyalty wallet, engagement shifts from episodic to habitual.
Balances sit ready to spend. Rewards feel immediate. Payments stay inside the ecosystem.
The result is a loyalty experience that funds itself, scales predictably, and delivers value to both sides of the relationship. In short, adding the stored value capability strengthens loyalty.
Frequently asked questions
How does a stored value wallet work?
Stored value allows consumers to load real funds into a loyalty wallet for future purchases. Those funds can be held over time, spent at checkout, or combined with rewards. For businesses, these balances can generate interest that helps offset program costs. The Starbucks app is a well-known example of this model in action.
Can you add a debit card for spending?
Yes. Stored-value balances can be paired with a debit card — virtual, physical, or both. Open-loop debit cards allow spending anywhere debit is accepted, while closed-loop cards restrict usage to the issuing merchant.
Why don’t other loyalty companies offer this?
Most loyalty platforms aren’t licensed to hold funds or move money. These capabilities require regulated financial infrastructure, which falls outside traditional loyalty software. Alviere operates as a licensed financial entity, enabling stored value, debit issuance, and bank-based money movement within a compliant framework.
How does the technical integration work?
Alviere’s HIVE platform is API-first, with flexible endpoints and webhooks designed to integrate into existing front-end experiences and back-end systems. This ensures alignment between UX expectations and financial workflows.
Who owns KYC and anti-fraud?
Alviere manages all KYC, AML, and fraud-prevention requirements. When a wallet holds customer funds, full KYC is performed at onboarding. Alviere follows MSBA best practices and adheres to state and federal regulations to ensure every transaction is secure and compliant.
Stored value turns loyalty from a cost center into a financial asset, Alviere makes it possible without adding an operational or regulatory burden.
