Go loud {{ FIRSTNAME | there }}? The band Muse changed their Insta and Facebook handles because, some suspect, Meta might have forced them to not compete with its new AI product, also called Muse. The truth? Don’t know; we say just bury it. 🤘🎸

In This Open Letter

SA runs on loyalty programmes: We each belong to 10.4 of them and use them as a budgeting tool, not a perk. So why are small players still running them on stamp cards and apps nobody keeps? This local startup unlocks loyalty with tools already on your phone…

A few weeks ago, we wrote about card-linked loyalty, because consumers really respond to it (some say loyalty drives up to 15-25% revenue lifts), yet SMEs don't have the tech to run it properly, and consumers don't want another app to download.

Thing is, as automatic as card-linked is, it only works with discounts on purchases. What if you want to give away freebies or run a different type of programme entirely?

The tech's already on their phone: Apple Pay and Google Pay officially rolled out for iPhone and Android users in SA, circa 2021 and 2022, as digital repositories for cards, tickets, and boarding passes. We recently built the wallet functionality into Radi to hold your event tickets, and it is awesome.

And if you're already thinking, hey, why don't you just use it to host your customers' loyalty card on, you're right on the money…

The loyalty card that lives in your phone's wallet

Snapback is a local loyalty platform that takes your loyalty programme and puts it on Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. So now your customer just opens the wallet that's already on their phone, scans to earn, and there's nothing new for them to install, update or delete.

For a store, setup is about 15 minutes, and it doesn't need any POS integration; it comes with eight common card mechanics already active: stamps, cashback, points, discounts, tiered rewards, memberships, prepaid punches, even gift cards that automatically convert to your standing loyalty card, so you can convert one-offs to new customers.

Now for the business play

We caught up with Snapback founder Joel Wilensky and business development partner Navigo Solutions, and they say loyalty mechanics are just the first step; the real unlock is the comms engine the Wallets unlock for business, 'cos it allows you to send push notifications straight to a customer's phone:

Underneath is a built-in CRM that auto-sorts your customers into champions, at-risk and dormant, plus an AI assistant, Richie, doing the analytics legwork.

We like that it uses native tech on everyone's phone already, and that everything is customisable, so no two rollouts are the same.

We're watching this space…

Have your say…

Let's be honest about LinkedIn: the performative posts, the "I'm humbled to announce," and the motivational carousels nobody asked for… yeah, plenty of smart executives look at it all and quietly decide they'd rather not.

Fair. But your buyers, your future hires and your industry are on there anyway, forming impressions with or without you. Sitting it out doesn't make you above the game. It makes you invisible.

It's a platform everyone loves to hate, but really needs. So people reach for the usual fixes: schedulers that post into the void, assistants guessing at your voice, and now a flood of AI-generated sludge that sounds like everyone and means nothing.

Michelle at FDC told us they work differently, and deliberately. They've built their own technique, a tried-and-tested method for turning an executive's real expertise into a presence that reads as you, not as content. No slop, no cringe. Just the parts that build trust and pipeline, handled.

You don't have to love the platform, just appear on it properly. That part, gladly, is FDC's.

So many tech leads run into a wall: your calendar's packed with meetings, you're managing people now, and you're spending less time in the code. You might even start wondering: am I still doing technical work? You are. You're just operating at a different altitude.

That's why OfferZen asked Anemari Fiser, an engineering leader, coach and author, how to level up as a tech lead. And she's crystal clear: it's not about what you can build anymore. It's about how much you can multiply through others.

🌊 What Offshore Wind Power? The Government’s answer to the drama around data centres is to suggest that SA generate 95GW of offshore wind along the coast. Catch: Earliest possible launch is 2035; data centres are going live right now.

📈 Trade Right in Your Feed. X has launched Cashtag trading in the US: tap a ticker right in your timelines, hit trade and buy through Coinbase or Interactive Brokers. Hmm, interesting…

⚖️ ConCourt Kills the Act. The Constitutional Court has struck down the Public Procurement Act of 2024, not for what it said, but for how it was rushed through with four hours of public comment. For now, SA tenders and deals run off the old laws.

🎮 Apple's Next Play. Apple is reportedly building iPhone game controllers, but under their Beats brand, not Apple. Smart: It’s a new market for them, and if it flops, their main brand is protected from the backlash. Always be learning.

🌾 Operations Simplified. InteliGro struggled with fragmented data and manual admin in their agri software. So Octoco built a unified system that cut admin, standardised crop recommendations and enabled faster, data-driven decisions for farmers and advisors.*

* From our partners. Find all the best service providers for your business in our Founder Stack.

Yesterday, we showed you Paystack's Shopify onsite checkout, asking whether you retry a payment after it fails. Nearly half of you just keep hammering that button…

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 💳 Every time, until it goes through (48%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🛒 Nope, straight to a competitor (16%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 🤷 I assume it's my card, not them (36%)

🤖 AI Developer @ Discovery Limited

💻 Software Engineer @ OfferZen

📋 Senior Product Manager @ Jem

🛒 Product Owner, Retail IT @ Allan Gray

🎙️ Not in SA, but there’s a wowser opportunity in San Francisco @ Wispr Flow

We chatted with an SA company-card-solutions founder about how they help operators manage and track employee purchases. And it's insane what these guys do with virtual cards…

Don't miss all the extra operator interviews and insights content we do on our social channels — come enjoy the vibez.

The Lekker Network Public Q&A, 29 Sept, Online: An open, no-agenda community Q&A hosted by Renier Lombard and Nic Latouf. Register free.

How AI-Assisted Teams Actually Build with AI, 1 Oct, Online: OfferZen's framework for mapping your team's AI level, a live agent demo and a hiring panel with BMEC and Jem. Join here.

Thrive Under 25, 1 Oct, Cape Town: Three founders building real businesses before 25, moderated by Kieno Kammies at Innovation City. Get tickets.

Powered by Radi. Want your business event in front of 36,000 The Open Letter readers? Host it on Radi, and it lands here.

🕵️ Tool to Try: Manifolds gives you more details about new users that sign up, in bulk via API.

🛰️ That's Interesting: Buzz Aldrin saw flashes of light with his eyes closed on Apollo 11. NASA later worked out they were cosmic rays passing through his eyeballs and triggering his retina, with no actual light involved.

🏠 Worth a Look: If you're into home automation and gadgets, here's a guide to smart automation brands in SA.