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Coalition Programs

A Coalition program lets a Business aggregate multiple independent merchants under a single shared loyalty initiative. Members earn and spend benefits across the entire network, regardless of which merchant they shop with.

Who it's for​

Coalition is the right model if you are:

  • A shopping center or multi-brand retail district coordinating loyalty across tenants
  • A local business network or neighborhood commerce initiative
  • A sports club or association involving a network of affiliated brands
  • Any entity that acts as a program coordinator rather than a direct seller

How it differs from Single Brand​

In a Single Brand program, the business owns all its stores. Every benefit issued and redeemed stays within the same entity — there is no financial movement between parties.

In a Coalition, merchants are independent businesses. When a merchant issues a benefit to a customer (for example, 5% cashback on a €100 purchase), that merchant owes €5 to the program. The customer does not receive that benefit immediately as spendable credit — it appears as pending in their account until the merchant funds it.

This distinction is fundamental: in a coalition, Spraed manages real financial flows between independent parties.

The settlement flow​

Here is how a cashback transaction works in a coalition:

  1. Customer shops at Merchant A and earns cashback. The benefit appears as pending in the customer's account.
  2. Spraed debits Merchant A for the cashback amount plus any applicable commission, crediting the Business's settlement account (the currency account).
  3. Once the debit is settled, the pending cashback is released and becomes available for the customer to spend.
  4. Customer redeems at Merchant B. Spraed reimburses Merchant B via bank transfer or offset against future debits.

This flow protects every participant: the customer only spends what has been funded, the redeeming merchant is always made whole, and the Business maintains a clear view of the program's financial position at all times.

Financial risk management​

Running a coalition introduces financial risk that does not exist in a Single Brand context. Spraed gives you the tools to manage it:

  • Pending balance visibility — customers see a clear distinction between their available balance and their pending balance, setting accurate expectations
  • Automatic merchant debiting — Spraed handles the charge to each merchant automatically when a benefit is issued
  • Settlement status tracking — you can monitor which merchants have outstanding balances and follow up where needed
  • Reimbursement management — Spraed tracks what is owed to each merchant after redemptions and manages the reconciliation

Merchant onboarding​

You, as the Business, invite merchants to join your coalition and configure the program rules that apply to them — reward rates, commission structures, and which products or categories are eligible. The merchant's decision to join is final; any commercial agreements are handled outside the platform.

Once onboarded, a merchant operates independently using the Spraed app: they process member transactions, run their own promotions within the rules you define, and view their own transaction and settlement reports.

Supported program types​

Spraed supports multiple program types, with more in development. See Supported program types for details.

What you manage​

As a coalition Business you manage everything a Single Brand Business manages, plus:

  • Merchant directory — invite, configure, and monitor each participating merchant
  • Commission rules — define what each merchant contributes per transaction type
  • Settlement overview — track pending debits, funded balances, and reimbursements due
  • Per-merchant reporting — see transaction and performance data broken down by merchant