SQUID launches Wave Points, Ireland’s first universal local rewards system

SQUID, Ireland’s leading rewards platform, has launched Wave Points. This is Ireland’s first truly universal local rewards system, allowing consumers to earn points with one brand and redeem them back into their locality.

Wave Points marks a shift in how customer loyalty schemes work in Ireland – moving beyond closed, single-brand loyalty schemes to a connected rewards ecosystem that reflects the nature of how people actually shop and spend. The launch is aimed at helping Irish consumers claw back some value as inflation and everyday costs continue to rise, with households increasingly focused on what their spending actually delivers, as consumer prices remain 3.6% higher than a year ago.

For consumers, Wave points earned through everyday spending can be used to increase their spending power locally.

For businesses, it offers a stronger way to drive repeat visits and keep more value circulating through local communities.

Wave Points builds on SQUID’s wider mission to strengthen local economies. Instead of rewards being locked into one brand, SQUID helps more of the value created by everyday spending find its way back into local businesses.

Pre-launch popularity

More than 50,000 people signed up to Wave Points pre-launch, reflecting the popularity and engagement that SQUID has built around everyday local spending.

SQUID has grown into Ireland’s largest local loyalty platform, with nearly 1,000,000 registered members and 3 million free coffees redeemed. The business is backed by more than 2,600 everyday investors through Crowdcube.

The launch of Wave Points is the next stage in SQUID’s growth, taking the business beyond coffee loyalty and into a universal rewards model built around how people actually spend.

“Customer loyalty hasn’t kept pace with how people live or spend. Consumers are facing sustained cost pressures, but most rewards schemes still lock value into single brands. Wave Points changes that – giving people points they can earn through everyday spending and redeem with the local businesses they actually use,” said Matthew Coffey, Co-Founder & CEO of SQUID.

“Wave Points turns fragmented loyalty into something people can actually use. It helps consumers stretch their spending further, while sending more value back into local businesses.”

How to use Wave Points

It’s simple. Consumers earn Wave Points as they spend – by buying a voucher in-app for partner brands like Tesco, SuperValu and JustEat, by linking their card to earn automatically at partner stores or through partner offers from brands like Zurich Insurance. Points can then be spent across SQUID’s local and national network.

In practice, for example, that could mean earning points on a weekly supermarket shop, then spending those earned points at the local coffee shop or for a free lunch – turning routine purchases into something more rewarding while supporting local businesses at the same time.

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