Indian banks and card issuers are reshaping loyalty schemes around travel and lifestyle rewards as experience-based redemptions become a bigger draw than cashbacks and discounts.
Industry executives say Gen Z and younger millennials now expect rewards that translate quickly into flights, hotel stays, airport lounge visits, and curated experiences. They also influence family spending decisions, including how older cardholders use points.
That shift has pushed banks to work more closely with specialist rewards and travel services firms. These companies provide redemption platforms, airport services, travel inventories, and the technology that sits behind loyalty marketplaces.
The change marks a move away from points balances that sit unused. Banks increasingly pitch immediate redemption and travel-linked privileges as part of premium and mass-affluent card propositions. Providers have also broadened the range of experiences and services available through points.
Experience platforms
Thriwe has expanded into experience-led loyalty programmes for cardholders. The company works with banks and financial institutions on redemption options that include travel bookings, concierge services, and lifestyle privileges.
Programmes increasingly cover flights, hotels, airport lounges, visas, and international assistance. Thriwe positions itself as an operational layer that executes these services across multiple card programmes. Banks typically package these benefits within premium cards and, in some cases, with products aimed at the mass-affluent segment.
For issuers, the attraction lies in a broader menu of redemptions and a clearer link between points and travel usage. The model also ties into family travel planning, where points contribute to bookings and upgrades instead of cash payments.
Airport services
Airport lounge access has shifted from a high-end perk to a common expectation among frequent travellers. DreamFolks operates in this space through arrangements that allow banks and card networks to offer lounge access and additional airport services.
Its portfolio includes lounge access, meet-and-greet services, and other airport privileges. DreamFolks has focused on digitising access and handling high volumes. Banks use these services to package travel benefits into cards and widen eligibility across customer tiers.
The expansion of lounge access in card programmes has created a more complex operating environment. Banks need to manage varying entitlements, usage caps, and customer service requirements. That complexity has increased demand for intermediaries that manage access across multiple airports and partners.
Cross-border rewards
International travel growth has also increased demand for global networks. Collinson provides access to international lounge networks, premium airport services, and travel experiences that banks can include in Indian loyalty programmes.
Its approach links Indian cardholders to services outside the country. Banks use these networks to align benefits across geographies, particularly for higher-spending customers who expect recognition when travelling abroad.
Providers in this segment compete on reach and service consistency. Banks weigh the breadth of airport coverage, service quality, and how easily benefits integrate with existing card propositions and redemption journeys.
Instant redemption
Redemption remains a central challenge for loyalty economics. Points lose perceived value when customers struggle to redeem them or face limited options. GyFTR has built its position around instant redemption across categories, including gift cards, travel, dining, shopping, and experiences.
This model relies on broad merchant partnerships and near real-time issuance of vouchers or gift cards. Banks use these options in reward marketplaces and app-based catalogues. The approach fits consumer demand for quick, visible value from points balances, particularly among younger customers.
As redemption becomes simpler, issuers also track changes in spending patterns. Card usage often rises when customers view points as a currency they can spend quickly, rather than a balance that requires planning.
Loyalty infrastructure
Loylty Rewardz supplies technology that banks use to operate personalised reward marketplaces. The company's systems integrate customer management tools, rewards catalogues, and partner offers in app-based interfaces.
The trend in this area centres on personalisation and digital discovery. Banks present rewards in a format closer to eCommerce, with browsing, filtering, and targeted offers. Providers like Loylty Rewardz compete on integration depth, catalogue breadth, and how issuers can tailor offers based on customer behaviour.
Competition across Indian retail banking and credit cards has increased focus on loyalty as a product feature rather than a marketing overlay. Banks now use rewards to differentiate card tiers, retain customers, and influence spending choices across categories such as travel and lifestyle purchases.
Platforms like Thriwe, DreamFolks, Collinson, GyFTR, and Loylty Rewardz enable banks to move beyond discounts and create high-value, experience-led engagement, transforming loyalty into a strategic growth engine rather than a marketing add-on.
Banks and rewards partners expect more convergence between card benefits, travel services, and app-based marketplaces as issuers expand experience-led catalogues and add more redemption options across domestic and international travel.