When I worked at coupons.com, our receipt validation loyalty programs relied on a clearing house of people to validate receipts for proof of purchase before fulfilling rewards to registrants. This receipt validation process was time-consuming and created more problems than it was worth. For starters, the user experience sucked. Customers had to wait days before finding out whether they were accepted. Many never returned. Secondly, fraud was rampant because human-powered receipt validation under pressure made checking things like duplicates at scale next to impossible.
We’ve come a long way since those days. After I left coupons.com, Dmitry (my cofounder, also from coupons.com) and I started building an AI receipt processing solution that would solve all those pains in real-time — enter Veryfi OCR API. Our AI receipt processing technology is capable of extracting line items from any receipt layout in seconds with product intelligence to expand those line items so you know exactly what products were bought. Furthermore, this receipt validation API does extensive fraud checks looking for receipt manipulation, duplicates, and more. This API is at the core of what makes Veryfi Embedded a killer product for receipt validation loyalty programs!
What Makes Effective Receipt Validation Loyalty Programs Possible?
If You’re the Loyalty Program Owner — Optimizing Receipt Validation
Data is Oil
The foundation of any successful loyalty program is data collection and insights. With modern solutions, you gain access to two critical data types:
- Zero-Party Data — There should not be any limits here on what you can capture. From date of birth to star ratings, needs vary and flexibility rules. This is data that customers willingly and intentionally share with you.
- First-Party Data — Validation and cross-basket insights gathered directly from customer interactions and purchases. This includes real-time purchase behavior, brand switching patterns, and comprehensive shopping analytics.
Both combined allow you to gain unprecedented insights about your customers and discover how to best serve their needs. Only 50% of CPG companies currently have a defined data strategy, leaving most brands blind to actual consumer behavior. Transform every receipt into a direct consumer data pipeline, giving you 100% visibility into purchase patterns, brand switching, and cross-category behavior.
Premium Campaign Tools
Modern receipt validation loyalty programs require sophisticated yet simple-to-use campaign management capabilities:
- No-Code Setup — You can set up and launch receipt validation loyalty programs entirely by yourself with no development costs and minimum engineering resources required. This democratizes loyalty program creation and puts control directly in the hands of marketers.
- Rapid Deployment — You’ll shrink weeks or months down to days to launch such programs — and not just one, but many. This enables you to run A/B experiments like a boss, testing different reward structures, messaging, and campaign mechanics in real-time.
- Time to Value — Seeing registrations stream in real-time allows you to move faster, modify campaigns while they’re running, and report to management to make better-informed decisions. No more waiting for quarterly reports or post-campaign analysis.
From the End User Side — That’s You if You’re Signing Up for the Loyalty Program
- Real-Time Feedback — Waiting days for receipt validation is for suckers. That’s the traditional process, and that’s not you. You have standards. Modern consumers expect immediate gratification and instant validation of their participation in loyalty programs.
- Seamless Experience — Easy-to-use software that runs on all devices and browsers, delivering what it promises. Whether it’s mobile or desktop, the experience you expect should be seamless, intuitive, and friction-free.
Why Veryfi Embedded Changes Everything
The transformation from traditional receipt validation to AI receipt processing represents a fundamental shift in how loyalty programs operate. Here’s the complete comparison:
| Challenge Category | Old Way | New Way using Veryfi Embedded |
|---|---|---|
| 💰 Build Costs | Expensive to Build • Developed in-house or outsourced to digital agencies costs $300K+ • Custom apps for mobile and web | 🚫 No More Build Costs • Embedded is a No-Code solution – pay per registration only • End-to-end self-serve (easy DIY) |
| ⏱️ Launch Speed | Slow to Launch • Traditional development: 6-18+ months • Code freeze culture leads to anxiety to launch | ⚡ Lightning Fast to Launch • Setup Campaigns in minutes; Launch in seconds • Update campaign even when live (no more code freeze culture) |
| 🔒 Fraud Prevention | High Fraud Risks • Using clearinghouses doesn’t scale • Fraud is getting sophisticated esp in the world of GenAI • Using humans leads to many mistakes | 🛡️ Fraud Reduced by 98% • 100% AI powered = no human in the loop • Embedded fraud detection replaces clearinghouses • AI pattern recognition stops sophisticated fraud inc GenAI |
| 📊 Campaign Scaling | Limited Campaign Capacity • High costs limit experiments to 2-5 campaigns/year • Build, speed & fraud costs cap growth • Manual processes can’t scale | ♾️ Unlimited Campaign Scaling • Run unlimited A/B tests anytime • Zero marginal cost per new campaign • Instant deployment for rapid iteration |
| 📈 Data Collection | Lacking Customer Data Collection & Insights • Reliant on third-party retailer data with limited access • Data scattered across silos with no unified view • Have to pay more for Cross-Basket behavior data | ✅ Empowered with Customer Data Collection & Insights • 100% first-party data ownership through embedded receipts • Real-time consumer insights and behavioral analytics • Zero-party data collection directly from consumers |
Bottom Line Impact
The difference between traditional and modern approaches isn’t just incremental improvement — it’s transformational:
- $0 development costs vs $300K+ custom builds
- 98% fraud reduction through AI vs human error-prone processes
- Unlimited campaigns vs 2-5 campaigns/year capacity limits
- First-party data ownership vs expensive third-party dependencies
The Future is Here
The days of waiting for human receipt validation, dealing with rampant fraud, and being limited by expensive, slow-to-deploy systems are over. AI receipt processing has revolutionized the loyalty program landscape, making it possible for brands of all sizes to deploy sophisticated, scalable receipt validation loyalty programs that deliver real-time value to both administrators and end users.
The question isn’t whether you should modernize your receipt validation loyalty programs approach — it’s how quickly you can decide to transition. Your customers expect better, your business deserves better, and the AI receipt processing technology to deliver better is available today.
Want to Test Drive it?
