eThor, the world leader in point-of-sale (POS) integration, announced a partnership with MasterCard, as the global payments giant launches a new technical program to support loyalty initiatives across all channels.

Consumers and merchants alike have been looking for ways to make the payment and loyalty program elements of shopping more convenient and seamless. While online redemption of offers is commonplace for consumers, the industry is just starting to deliver the same functionality at point-of-sale checkout via a mobile app. With the introduction of a new technical specification, MasterCard is taking steps to deliver a unified, seamless checkout experience both in-store and in-app.

“We are extremely excited to have had the opportunity to assist MasterCard in building this new loyalty platform,” says eThor founder and CEO Gary Ziegler. “We believe this new initiative will set the standard for point and loyalty redemption throughout the payment industry.”

The Loyalty middleware specification enables mobile applications to offer a seamless connection between payment, promotions, and loyalty redemption. It enables consumers to select their loyalty card, the coupons/promotions they want to redeem and make payment in a single or double tap at a contactless terminal.

“We’ve worked closely with various industry partners such as eThor to develop and implement one standard approach to enable a seamless experience in redeeming loyalty points or promotions when making mobile payments at the point-of -sale,” says James Anderson, executive vice president, Digital Payments, MasterCard. “Having one standard will make it easier and less costly for merchants, wallet issuers, terminal providers, and others in the industry to implement these programs and focus on other elements of the customer experience.”