Back in October 2023, Reward, the customer engagement platform, appointed Jamie Samaha as CEO. The usual kind of press release marked the appointment. It could win a prize if such a prize existed. The release included so many of the expected buzz words such releases normally contain.
This was, we were all told, ‘a strategic move’. The appointment would ‘guide the company through an exciting new chapter of global growth and expansion.’ The new appointee, naturally, had enjoyed a ‘stellar career’. He was bringing a ‘wealth of experience’. This included overseeing an international scale-up phase of a fintech unicorn. This deserves extra points as not all such releases can make that claim. It was a more interesting release than the run of the mill people moves story.
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The party line on people moves
Naturally, RBI did not cover the news of Samaha’s appointment.
With apologies in advance to longstanding readers who may have heard this before, but the line on people moves bears repeating, every few years. Not that it will stop receipt every day of umpteen people moves press releases but one lives in hope the message will get home eventually.
The founder of this title gave the writer some excellent advice 20 years ago. In summary-stick to the FT house style, it has served them well for decades-he was ex-FT so a tad biased.
Don’t do book reviews-if you start down that road, you will offend more folks than you please. Not to mention having to read some right old rubbish you would rather not be seen reading on the tube. Try and avoid politics and bank bashing-these guys pay the bills. Bankers pay? Avoid the temptation to call them greedy four-letter fellows. They are – but no need to remind them. Leave that to The Sun and The Daily Mail. See bank bashing. And don’t touch people moves or appointments, under any circumstances.
To be specific, I was told: ‘Banks will expect you to report on a head of mortgages becoming manager with responsibility for term deposits in some impossible place. PRs for tech vendors will send you ridiculous press releases about a new sales manager being appointed for a firm of whom you have never heard and could care about even less. They will then get upset if the appointment is not reported. Better not to include any people move stories. Just say there is a house rule against covering appointments. There is more real news that matters than you will be able to cover. Plus, few press releases announcing a senior appointment read too well within a short period. There are however occasional exceptions and Samaha is one such example.
Samaha’s stellar CV includes 7 years at Mastercard
As just the fourth editor of the title in RBI’s 44 year history, advice from the previous three editors was gratefully received. And in my time on the desk since 2005 and as editor since 2010, I have seen no reason to depart too far from the house rules inherited. In the case of Samaha however, it turns out that the press release of almost 18 months ago still reads pretty well. Even with the benefit of hindsight, it is unlikely that the PR firm would want to change much of the release. That is most definitely not the case with most press releases announcing a new CEO.
He does happen to have a stellar business track record. For example, seven years at Mastercard, where he was Executive Vice President Loyalty & Engagement Services. Highlights there include building digital-first differentiated consumer value propositions for Mastercard’s customers across 60+ markets.
Experian takes stake, Reward acquires HDI
At Reward, he has already made an acquisition, snapping up Hospitality Data Insights (HDI) last November. And not just any acquisition. This one was an all-cash deal to combine HDI’s data, product range, pricing insights, and consumer sentiment analysis with Reward’s transactional and behavioural insights. The acquisition strengthens Reward’s products for retail marketing, performance optimisation and operational insights. The deal is especially beneficial to Reward in the hospitality and convenience sectors and also strengthens its hand in other categories including convenience and grocery.
Another notable deal under Samaha was a strategic investment in Reward from Experian, at a stroke augmenting Reward’s consumer insights capabilities.
For the record, the box can also be ticked as regards international expansion. That is ongoing with further global growth on the horizon.
Samaha has then, lots of good reasons to be cheerful when he speaks with RBI about progress to date and his future plans for the business.
“Our key customer constituency is banks. Brands and banks in particular, want to be able to have deep, meaningful relationships with their end customer. Part of that is really to understand what is important to them; what life stage they’re at and how they go about their daily lives as well.
“And so, we take a lot of that data and a lot of that insight and what we do is to create relevant and rewarding interactions between the bank and their customers. Today’s consumer is very discerning. They have choice but they have particular expectations of how they want to be able to engage with the brands that are important to them in their life.”
It benefits Reward that the banking sector is undergoing a digital transformation and has been for the past 20 years or more. The drive towards greater use of technology, digitisation and bank efforts to ramp up customer engagement combine to play to Reward’s strengths.
Reward’s award-winning NatWest collaboration
“Banks are talking to and engaging and servicing their customers in a much more digital, friendly, frictionless way. That’s what we do on a daily basis, whether it’s through our technology, whether it’s through our ability to work through big data and generate some insights and some learnings about deeper customer understanding, or whether it’s through our marketing services that helps us execute. We bring a whole end to end solution to our bank customers, and we work with pretty much most of the major banks here in the UK and many abroad as well.”
An oft-repeated line on RBI over the years has lamented the lack of innovative bank reward programmes for customers, outside of North America. The line that banks have taken customers for granted is not a new one. Think of a truly world class bank reward programme over the past 20 years and one might suggest Citi’s Thank You or RBC’s Avion programmes as leading examples. Samaha however can flag up Reward’s award-winning partnership with NatWest as a UK example of a successful bank loyalty programme. He also makes the fair point that UK banks have had to work a little bit harder and that the funding mechanism for having rich rewards is a little bit more challenged than in other markets.
Reward milestones
Last year ended with Reward celebrating hitting its goal, ahead of schedule, of delivering $2bn in rewards to customers on behalf of retailers and banks worldwide. Building on the success of surpassing $1bn in 2022, Samaha says that the latest milestone reflects Reward’s ongoing commitment to making everyday spending more rewarding for customers worldwide. At the same time, he could reference a 38% increase in cashback rewards redeemed between 2022 and 2024, highlighting how rewards are supporting consumer spending. Beyond personal savings, $10.5m has been donated to charity through Reward’s customer engagement platform, reflecting the broader impact of cashback rewards on communities and causes.
Samaha adds: “We are a purpose driven business. 20 years ago, our founder, Gavin Dein, started with fan loyalty and worked with the Premier League clubs. Our tagline is to make every day spend more rewarding. It’s really important for our staff and our partners that they understand that everything that they’re doing on a daily basis is actually making an impact on the community and impact on people’s lives. It’s not just about profit.”
N America a key target market
Looking ahead, Samaha highlights his experience in running global outfits. He stresses the value of the firm’s strategic partnership with Visa.
“We’re very centered in the UK, with a few markets in Europe and a really good, strong foothold in the Middle East as well. Part of my mandate was really to take the leading-edge capability that we have here in the UK and to export that globally.”
So that likely means North America as a key target market. With his track record to date, it would be unwise to bet against him.
