Academic Director

Truth & BrandMapp Loyalty Whitepaper 2025/6: A Decade of South African Consumer Loyalty Insights

The Truth & BrandMapp Loyalty Whitepaper 2025/6 marks the tenth edition of South Africa’s most comprehensive study of loyalty behaviour — and with it, a decade-long view of how consumers engage with loyalty programmes in a mature and globally respected market.

Over ten years, this whitepaper has become the definitive barometer of loyalty in South Africa. There is no other study in the local market that unpacks the landscape with this depth, scale and longitudinal consistency.

Drawing on insights from over 30,000 economically active South African adults (gross monthly household income of R10,000 or more), combined with 6,000 mass market consumers earning below R10,000 per month, the research collectively represents the loyalty behaviours of more than 23 million South Africans.

85% of South Africans use loyalty programmes

Loyalty participation remains firmly entrenched in South African consumer behaviour, with 85% of South Africans actively using loyalty programmes — up from 82% the previous year.

While growth has moderated compared to earlier expansionary years, usage remains robust and stable — signalling a mature loyalty market.

Most-used programmes in 2025

• Checkers Xtra Savings regains the position of most-used loyalty programme for the second time, reflecting a 3-percentage-point year-on-year increase and narrowly edging ahead of Clicks ClubCard.
• In financial services, FNB eBucks retains its leadership position among economically active consumers.
• Within the QSR and restaurant category, Spur Family Card remains the most-used programme.
• Among mass market consumers, Capitec Live Better leads financial services loyalty adoption.
• When asked which programme they “can’t live without,” Discovery Vitality ranks highest among economically active consumers, while Capitec holds that position in the mass market.

South Africa: a globally recognised mature loyalty market

Over the past decade, loyalty usage in South Africa has grown both in penetration and depth. The average number of programmes used per consumer has increased from 4.6 in 2015 to 10.4 in 2025 — a 228% increase in programme participation over ten years.

Amanda Cromhout, CEO of Truth, comments:

“South Africa is a mature loyalty market and one that is closely watched by the rest of the world. South African loyalty programmes are recognised globally for their sophistication and innovation. The growth in programme participation over the past decade reflects both consumer demand and brands investing in delivering meaningful value.”

Loyalty is no longer a ‘nice to have’

In 2026, loyalty has shifted from optional benefits to financial necessity for consumers.

Cashback remains highly valued, but the research shows that consumers increasingly rely on loyalty benefits and partnerships to manage household budgets and offset rising living costs. Programme choice is now influenced as much by ecosystem value and partner relevance as by earn-and-burn mechanics.

Cromhout adds:

“Like never before, consumers not only like cashback — they need the financial support from loyalty programmes. It is more evident each year how critical loyalty programmes have become in the daily lives of South African consumers, particularly as they navigate ongoing cost-of-living pressures.”

Preferred engagement: the card endures

Understanding how consumers prefer to identify themselves remains crucial to programme design. Despite rapid digital transformation, physical card swiping continues to outperform self-identification or app-based alternatives.

Interestingly, this mirrors trends seen in other mature loyalty markets such as the UK, Canada and Australia — reinforcing that digital maturity does not automatically eliminate traditional behaviours.

Access the full whitepaper

To view the full Truth & BrandMapp Loyalty Whitepaper 2025/6, visit: www.truth.co.za

I’m pleased to share another insightful whitepaper with the loyalty industry. This is the 9th edition of the Truth and BrandMapp Loyalty Whitepaper, which reveals that more than 4 out of 5 South African consumers actively use loyalty programmes, and over 35% of consumers are using these programmes more than they did last year. The whitepaper provides detailed insights into which brands are performing well in loyalty and which benefits are most appreciated by consumers.

As the Academic Director and an industry leader in loyalty, I’m committed to contributing valuable insights to help further the understanding and development of loyalty programmes.

I am very proud to be one of the authors contributing to this world-class educational text book on digital marketing. Chapter 6: CUSTOMER CENTRICITY – by Amanda Cromhout.

Other topics include:
* Content marketing (with AI tips and tools)
* Data protection and privacy (POPIA)
* Starting your online business
* Doing Digital Research
* Integrating traditional and digital media
* Securing influencers and more, this textbook equips readers with the knowledge and skills to thrive in the digital world.

The textbook is now available, in South Africa, through print (R780) and as an eBook (R702). 📖 ISBN: 978-0-627-04183-9

💡 Let’s pave the way for a future where academia and industry work hand in hand.

As CEO of Truth, Truth & BrandMapp have proudly delivered loyalty insights over the last 8 years. This whitepaper analyses the changing consumer attitudes towards loyalty programmes in South Africa and further deep dives into demographic differences, plus any other factors influencing loyalty usage.

Truth and BrandMapp proudly launch the 2023/4 South African Loyalty Whitepaper. This is the 8th edition of the whitepaper and as every year, it highlights ongoing loyalty trends and new insights, relevant not only to the South African market, but for global markets also.

Congratulations to all the students who have successfully completed the Customer Academy Diploma in Loyalty course! This accomplishment is even more significant as the course is externally certified by the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) standards. We are excited to see the positive impact you will have in the loyalty industry.

Being the Academic Director for Truth’s Customer Academy really is one of the most rewarding parts of my loyalty life. I love teaching, I love sharing and I love loyalty. We hosted 39 enthusiastic loyalty students from many of South Africa’s finest corporate brands plus a guest from Kenya and our sponsors from Poland – Comarch Loyalty. The Customer Academy Diploma in Loyalty ensures our students are fully equipped to tackle all aspects of rewards & loyalty strategy through to implementation. We follow a robust nine step process which leaves no loyalty stone unturned.

So what does a loyalty nine-step process look like?

Our students shared their experiences and programme performance to enhance the learnings across the executive loyalty audience. My book, Blind Loyalty – 101 loyalty concepts radically simplified is the course text book.

Our Diploma in loyalty is externally certified by CPD (Continuous Professional development) which ensures we deliver a learning experience worthy of a Diploma. We’ve awarded our professional loyalty students with the acronym CADipL^TM (Customer Academy Diploma in Loyalty), but only after they have completed six assessments to ensure their participation and learning merits such an accolade.

To the world of loyalty, I live to share loyalty insights created out of hours, months and years of loyalty consultancy and mentorship. It brings me the utmost of pleasure to award our students their Diploma in Loyalty. We continue to bring this experience in 2024 to Kenya and Ireland in July and November, respectively and to a South African corporate which is upskilling its entire African leadership team in loyalty in September through our Customer Academy.

DIPLOMA IN LOYALTY

(2 Day training)

The Customer Academy Diploma in Loyalty gives an invaluable amount of loyalty insight in just two days of loyalty training. During the two days of training, we provide you with all you need to know about loyalty programme strategy and development. We will discuss the evolution of loyalty and the fundamentals of developing your loyalty strategy, through to implementation.

Furthermore, we will provide you with the key considerations when designing a loyalty programme and share an 8-step process to designing and implementing commercially-viable loyalty programme for your business.

Completion of this Customer Academy Diploma in Loyalty awards the student with the globally recognised CADipL ™ certification (CADipL ™ = Customer Academy Diploma in Loyalty). Truth’s Customer Academy Diploma in Loyalty is externally accredited by CPD. CPD certification provides global recognition for Continuous Professional Development.

Over 500 students across 20 countries have been professionally trained in loyalty and customer data through Truth’s Customer Academy.