Our SXSWrapup will continue momentarily, but we’ve got one piece of unfinished business to handle first.
Before we headed out to SXSW Interactive, we tipped you off to foursquare’s new partnership with American Express (at the very bottom of that post). However, in all the hubbub surrounding SXSW, it took a while for the details about that partnership to emerge. Now that more information is available, it’s only fair that we tie up those loose ends.
First things first: this is only a test. If this were an actual application, you would have seen a foursquare special that looks like the image above, in which you could add this deal to your (pre-registered) AmEx with the tap of a button. The deal would be done as soon as participants used their card; no need to show the server, no need for the server to enter the discount, and no need for the merchant to figure out how to redeem the offer. Everything happens seamlessly on the back end, with the consumer receiving his or her deal within 3-5 business days. While the test wrapped up at the conclusion of SXSW Interactive, it sure sounds like AmEx is planning on rolling this out on a larger scale in the coming months.
But the most eye-opening piece that emerged about this partnership? It wasn’t built on foursquare’s API [oops - updated in response to Tristan's comment below] There was some playing-nice between foursquare’s API and the API from American Express… wait, American Express has an API? Yes, American Express has an API, meaning that developers can produce all kinds of value-added services that work on the back-end of American Express cards. That’s definitely something worth watching in the near future.
Oh, and don’t worry, the folks at AmEx are no dummies. Their API doesn’t share transaction data, card numbers, or merchant info, which also means that anyone who loses their foursquare-enabled phone is not at risk of exposing their AmEx number. (They are at risk of revealing their top scores in Angry Birds, which may be more traumatic.)
So, yeah, that little coup was bigger than the big names involved. We’ll be keeping a very close eye on this partnership when it eventually rolls out. But, for now, we’ve got much bigger things to talk about regarding the location story…
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hey hey! great post and thanks for writing. Just wanted to follow up. Our API was indeed leveraged for this initiative. We are also consumers of their API.
Ahh, ok. There were some conflicting reports out there – hence our surprise in the post. Thanks for clarifying!