Powered by Snapp, a digital loyalty platform allowing customers to earn points for purchases from their favorite venues directly on their phone, SnappCard is a mobile loyalty and customer engagement app that offers users to also connect and share their favorite brands.  “[It also allows] merchants to implement and execute a sophisticated loyalty program that gives them strong analytics, and a direct communication channel to their customers,” explains Alborz Toofani, founder and CEO at Snapp, the company behind SnappCard.

The app, which went live in May 2013, is supported by Dubai’s TECOM authority and telecom and technology solutions provider Qualcomm, among others. Asked about the competitive edge of Snappcard against other mobile loyalty schemes in the region, Toofani says: “we are marketers: we understand the users, while knowing what merchants really want. Simplicity is key here for both sides. It has to be fun for the user, all the while sparing merchant operations complicated processes and systems. Furthermore, we emphasize a lot on branding. Merchants are proud to be part of SnappCard; and they actively show it.”

In fact, on challenges he and his team faced in operating in a region that, although has high smartphone penetration, is yet to make use of it, Toofani asserts that SnappCard works with the city’s best venues, and as such has positioned itself as premium loyalty network that recruits active smartphone users.

SnappCard currently operates on a software-as-a-service business model, having recruited clients such as The Noodle House, Pizza Express, and Urban Bistro, among others.

Snapp has launched the mobile loyalty scheme in Dubai, and now has offices in Istanbul, Turkey, Cologne and Germany. It also currently services clients in Qatar, Bahrain and Denmark, with plans to expand into the rest of the GCC in 2015.