Australians remain deeply engaged with loyalty programs. In 2026, 93 per cent of consumers belong to at least one, the highest penetration recorded since 2016.
How they engage, however, is narrowing. Asked to name their memberships unprompted, the average member lists 3.8 programs. That’s the lowest this count has been since this was first measured in 2015, when the average was 5.0.
The prompted average, drawn from a list of 131 programs, reaches 10.1. Wallets stay full while attention thins, and members are concentrating on the programs that earn it.
The commercial pressure on programs has grown at the same time. Acquisition costs are rising, cost of living shapes how households spend, and broad discounting gives away margin without buying lasting loyalty. That has moved value, personalisation and program design up the agenda for brands chasing growth that holds. This is the setting for For Love or Money 2026, the 14th edition of The Point of Loyalty’s annual study of customer loyalty and loyalty programs in Australia.
Eagle Eye, a loyalty and AI platform, marked the launch of the report at an event in Sydney, joined by The Point of Loyalty, customer engagement platform Braze, and Composed Digital, a specialist consultancy built around the modern marketing technology stack.
Senior figures from each organisation shared their thoughts on where Australian programs fall short, how brands should redefine value beyond discounts and points, and what the customer relationship looks like as AI agents begin shopping and redeeming on people’s behalf.
The report suggests loyalty programs are becoming “data rich but relevance poor”: Why brands still struggle to deliver personalised experiences despite having vast volumes of customer data
According to Adam Posner, chief executive, The Point of Loyalty, this taps directly into the report’s finding that 63 per cent of members believe brands have enough data to know them, yet only 40 per cent per cent feel offers are actually personalised. He says its a wake up call to tackle issues around AI, orchestration, customer fatigue, fragmented stacks and execution gaps.
“Adam’s numbers say it perfectly: 63 per cent of members know the brand has the data, but only 40 per cent ever feel it. That gap isn’t a data problem – it’s an execution problem,” explained Jonathan Reeve, Regional Sales Director, ANZ, Eagle Eye.
“There’s a few reasons for this but a common issue we see is that most systems were not designed for true 1:1 personalisation. That’s why we built EagleAI: a genuinely individual offer set for every customer, every week, automatically.”
Fatimah Samee, senior partner sales manager, Braze, agreed. “The paradox of being “data rich but relevance poor” stems not from a scarcity of customer insights, but from an inability to operationalise them,” she said.
For Terry Mefsut, CEO and co-founder, Composed Digital, the biggest barrier is data accuracy and trust.
“An incorrect personalisation experience is actually worse than no personalisation at all. If you get it wrong, you erode trust and do real brand damage,’ he added.
“Brands need to get the data foundations right before they can unlock the benefits.”
“Value” has emerged as the dominant driver of loyalty program success: How brands should redefine “value” beyond discounts and points.
According to Posner, the report shows consumers still prioritise financial rewards, but increasingly want time-saving, emotional connection, flexibility and “Joyalty moments of magic.”
“This invites nuanced thinking about value and brands with programs should consider all dimensions of value, not only “money”, including the value of experiences, convenience such as omnichannel engagement, emotional connection functional utility – saving time,” he said.
“Discounts are the entry fee, not the differentiator,” Reeve added. “A discount everyone gets is just a margin given away. We see a great opportunity to deliver value in other ways. One example is ‘effort value’. Save me time and friction: offers loaded automatically, redemption at the till with zero faff.”
For Mefsut, value in 2026 needs to solve a customer problem. Does this program make my life easier? Does it save me money? Does it create a better experience? The best programs deliver on a combination of those things.
“The programs that resonate are the ones that have moved beyond transactional rewards and into creating value and emotional connection with the brand,” he says.
Samee agreed, stressing that competing purely on price-driven loyalty is unsustainable.
“To drive genuine retention, brands must shift from transactional value (discounts and points) to emotional and experiential value,” she said.
The report argues loyalty programs must evolve from “points, perks and birthdays” into systems that solve real-world problems: What the next generation of loyalty programs actually look like.
According to Posner, programs that solve problems for members – in the world, in their lives and with their brand experience is where brands with programs should dig deep.
“Solving a problem in the world around us e.g. Grill’d Eight and Donate is a program that perfectly integrates a reward for both the member and feeding the hungry,” he explained. “Solving problems in the lives of members matters, some examples include health and wellbeing programs such as Live Better Rewards from Medibank and Vitality Rewards.”
“This aligns with the report’s “World. Life. Brand.” framework around loyalty programs solving broader customer and societal challenges. Ideal for visionary quotes and future-focused predictions.”
Samee agreed. She highlighted the next generation of loyalty programs will be defined by trust, utility and deep value alignment rather than superficial, transactional rewards. As consumers increasingly vote with their wallets, they actively judge and abandon brands whose ethical, emotional and moral grounds do not reflect their own.
“Consequently, future loyalty systems will pivot toward solving real-world problems by integrating into the customer’s lifestyle and belief system,” she added. “This looks like programs that offer sustainable choices, such as carbon-offsetting purchases, facilitating circular economy initiatives like product trade-ins, or allowing members to seamlessly convert their loyalty points into charitable donations.”
“By transforming loyalty into a platform for shared values, brands can move past predictable birthday perks and build enduring, trust-based relationships that resonate across all verticals.”
Mefsut predicts we’ll move from ‘earn points on your birthday’ to more ‘this program anticipates what I need and removes friction before I even ask.’ We’ll see programs that integrate more seamlessly with the way we shop or interact with brands, he said.
“The brands that win are the ones building on flexible data infrastructures, so they can activate the right experience at the right moment rather than sending a birthday email,” he added.
For Reeve, the biggest real-world problem right now is the cost of living, and loyalty is one of the few tools a retailer has to help customers with it personally, at scale, without destroying margin.
“Nobody has a crystal ball but in fast-moving sectors, next-generation loyalty could look like a personal trading relationship,” he said. “Every customer gets their own version of the program, recalculated continuously.”
“The next generation is about the person; the brands that make that shift will own the programs that actually live in people’s heads.”
Gain many more in-depth insights around the loyalty sector in Australia by grabbing a copy of The Point of Loyalty’s 2026 For Love of Money report.
