Fisoc

Fisoc, Inc., which operated under the name Buzz Points, was established in 2009 by founder Jay Valanju and was headquartered in Austin, Texas. The company later brought on Dwayne Spradlin as CEO, who possessed substantial experience in technology-driven organizations, including his time as President of Hoovers and CEO of InnoCentive Inc. Spradlin's background in using incentives to drive behavior was directly applicable to Buzz Points' core business. The company positioned itself as a platform offering a merchant-funded loyalty and rewards program specifically designed for community financial institutions like banks and credit unions.

The core of the business was the Buzz Points platform, which aimed to connect consumers, local merchants, and community financial institutions. The business model was centered on helping these financial institutions increase revenue and customer engagement by offering rewards on card transactions. Consumers would earn points for using their debit or credit cards, with accelerated point accumulation for shopping at participating local businesses within the network. These points could then be redeemed for gift cards, cash cards, or donations to local nonprofits. For the financial institutions, the platform served as a tool to drive card usage and build stronger relationships with both individual and business customers. For local merchants, it provided a turnkey marketing solution with data analysis to attract and retain customers, funded by interchange fees.

The platform was designed as a holistic solution, managing the tracking of points and rewards on the back end, simplifying the experience for consumers who only needed to use their institution's payment card. Throughout its operation, Buzz Points raised a total of $77.5 million in funding over 18 rounds from investors including Greycroft, KEC Holdings, and Lead Edge Capital. However, the company is now listed as deadpooled.

Keywords: loyalty program, financial institutions, community banks, credit unions, customer engagement, merchant-funded rewards, debit card rewards, credit card rewards, consumer loyalty, local business marketing, Jay Valanju, Dwayne Spradlin, Fisoc, Austin startup, fintech rewards, cardholder engagement, revenue generation platform, data-driven marketing, small business loyalty, customer retention