Charter loyalty card a key test for technology developer

A new customer-loyalty program rolled out by Charter Communications in Reno marks an important test for the company that developed the underlying technology.

Starting this month, Charter customers in northern Nevada each will receive a magnetic-strip rewards card pre-loaded with $5, 10, and $20 offers from retailers and restaurants. The company says the offers will total more than $250 a month.

Underlying the Charter Rewards campaign is a new stored-value system developed by Complete Access, a company based at Portland, Ore. Reno and Fresno are the first markets to see full-scale rollouts of the proprietary VIPspree technology.

William Roskowski, co-founder and president of Complete Access, said the company moved quickly, establishing a network of Reno-area merchants and launching the northern Nevada card within 12 weeks of striking a deal with Charter.

"We've experienced some success thus far, and we definitely feel our model lends itself to scaling nationally," Roskowski said. "We're looking to bring our customer-loyalty model into other markets as we continue to grow."

Complete Access' pitch is straightforward: Loyalty cards reduce customer churn.

"Our card basically gives Charter's customers a tangible reason to stay with Charter every month," said Kirk Nagamine, co-founder and chief executive officer of the company.

Participating merchants, he said, pay for credits on the cards only as Charter customers redeem them.

Manny Martinez, Charter's vice president and general manager in Reno, said the company also will pitch the card as an advertising alternative for merchants.

Complete Access created a branded Web interface for Charter where customers can track their use of the rewards program and view participating merchants.

Before launching Complete Access, Nagamine was senior vice president of development for Entertainment Publications, the developer of the Entertainment Book, a shopping and restaurant retail coupon book sold in 159 U.S. and Canadian markets.