A new cardless stock-rewards program from fractional investing and embedded finance fintech company DriveWealth, together with stock rewards app company Bits of Stock, aims to shape the future of stock ownership, aspirational wealth generation, and brand loyalty for younger generations.
The two companies hope that by partnering together and offering their younger user base a novel and unique benefit, first-time investors will be able to learn, grow, and develop the skills necessary to take control of their financial futures. The way the engaging investment experience works is by having “card” holders link their bank account to the Stocks Reward app. Then, when participating users make purchases at participating merchants and retailers they are able to earn fractional shares of the company’s stock, teaching them the basics of investing while allowing them to invest in and support the brands they love.
Participating brands in the program include well-known merchants like Five Guys, Zara, Popeyes, Arhaus, Crocs, L’Occitane, Levi’s, QDOBA, and Zulily, among others. The stock rewards are technically limitless, and are applied both in-store or online, as long as users pay through the DriveWealth-Bits of Stock program payment platform.
Each purchase earns around 5% of the total receipt price in fractional shares of a brand’s stock, and early results show the initiative is increasing average order value and driving customer frequency by over 20% across participating retailers. Beyond that, the benefit of the partnership for consumers is how its embrace of micro-ownership is helping to democratize access to equities markets for millions of consumers who otherwise might not have had the access, ability, intention, or education to take advantage of financial markets.
The Bits of Stock and DriveWealth partnership is open to anyone with a mobile device, not just high-net-worth individuals, and is opening the door to financial education and wealth building to all investors regardless of their age or background.
The Bits of Stock and DriveWealth initiative is not the only one taking advantage of micro-ownership to educate consumers. Bumped, another fractional share investing platform, offers a similar service and has partnered with the Kroger Companies and its family of affiliate brands.
Another micro-ownership platform, Tulipshare, takes a more activist approach by aggregating the fractional ownership shares of its investor base in order to leverage shareholder rights and draw attention to certain issues,like fair and safe working environments for Amazon Warehouse employees, sustainable bottling practices at Coca Cola, and other socially conscious initiatives and issues that global corporations might not otherwise blink an eye at if single shareholders were to raise them.
