Visa Inc. has announced that its mobile app, Shopkick, now allows mobile users to earn more redeemable "kicks" by linking their eligible Visa debit or credit card into its new Buy & Collect program and then making qualifying purchases at participating Shopkick merchants with the linked card.

Shopkick users have the option to earn more rewards while shopping in their favorite stores, and merchants can increase sales and better measure the effectiveness of their location-based marketing efforts, Cyriac Roeding, co-founder and CEO of shopkick, said in a company press release.

"Through our relationship with Visa, we have closed the loop – rewarding shoppers at every step of the shopping process from discovery to purchase," Roeding said. "No one else is doing that. We combine our popular walk-in rewards with rewards for purchase. Shoppers get more rewards, and our retail partners get more shoppers and purchases– all made possible through the Visa network – it equals a win-win-win."

At the core of the mobile shopping app is the patent-pending Shopkick Signal ultra-precise location technology, which lets the user's shopkick app detect its presence in enrolled stores accurately and seamlessly, automatically crediting rewards to the right account, and delivering offers relevant to that retail location, according to the release.

Now, through Visa's real-time messaging platform, Shopkick merchants can offer Visa cardholders rewards not only for visiting and browsing in a store, but also for making qualifying purchases while they are in the store. Registered shoppers will qualify for Buy & Collect offers such as "spend $40 and receive 250 kicks," while they are in the store.

The first Shopkick merchants offering Buy & Collect include American Eagle Outfitters, Arden B., Old Navy, Toys"R"Us, and Wet Seal – available immediately in participating Shopkick locations.

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