The Admin Merchant page enables you to manage all of your Merchants in one place. Once you have accessed the Admin portal, this information can be located by selecting the 'Merchants' item in the menu.
The Admin Merchants page will allow you to:
- Add a Merchant
- Search for a Merchant
- Edit a Merchant
- View Merchant list
- View Merchant transactions
- View Merchant preboarding
- View Merchant update requests
- View transactions
- View Commissions
- View Authorised Users
Add a Merchant
Know of a Merchant that is eager to increase their customer base and encourage repeat purchasing? Use the 'Add Merchant' function to easily onboard them into your rewards program.
First of all, you will be required to enter the Merchants name, business number and business type. The Merchant code is specific to your program and can be determined chronologically based on the last Merchant code given. The time zone of the Merchant is also required as Offer times are based on the Merchant's time zone; for example, if an Offer from a Merchant in Adelaide is valid from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, the times indicated are valid for Adelaide, whereas if a Member in Melbourne purchased something online from the same Merchant in Adelaide, the valid reward times would be different (i.e. between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm Melbourne time). By providing the time zone, Members will have more accurate times for interstate purchases.
The business type helps Members to search for the type of Merchant they are looking for. For example, if a Member is looking to earn rewards by going out to lunch, they can search for 'Dining' only, or if a member wants to earn rewards buying family Christmas presents, they can search 'Retail'.
The Merchant's banking information will also be required to enable the reward and fee collection process. Fill in the relevant fields. You will also need to decide whether or not to tick the 'Direct debit invoice'. If you tick this box, the Merchant will be automatically direct debited the amount they were invoiced for rewards and program fees. If the box is not ticked, the Merchant will receive the invoice and have to pay manually.
The address details, contact information and Merchant branding fields are all Member/public facing and will be used to locate the Merchant. The latitude and longitude are required to help the Members find the Merchant on a map generated by Google. To find this information, simply search for the Merchant using Google Maps, right click on the merchant arrow and select ‘What’s here?’ The longitude and latitude will appear and can be copied into the correct fields. This helps Members to locate Merchants with ease and make more purchases through the rewards program.
There is also space to include the Merchant's branding information. This includes space for an image, whether it is a logo or a picture/photo, and space for a description about the Merchant.
Once all of the Merchant's details have been entered and are correct, select 'Create merchant' at the top of the page.
Search for a Merchant
The 'Merchant Search' function allows you to keep track of all of your Merchants in one place.
Use the search bar by entering the merchants name to find a specific Merchant.
You can also click 'Filters' to add parameters to your search.
After clicking on 'Filters', you will be able to tick different boxes to choose what results you want to appear in your search. So if, for example, you only want to see active Merchants with active Offers, simply tick those boxes.
You can search for Merchants based on their state (i.e. whether they are active or inactive), their Offer's state (i.e. if they are actively participating in an offer now), and their Schemes' state (if they have registered all, some or none of their schemes).
You can also sort your list if you click 'Sort by'.
Here, you can sort your search results alphabetically by Merchant name, by the amount of transactions etc.
After completing your search, you will be given a list of Merchants matching the filters you selected. You will be shown basic information such as their status, whether they are participating in Offers at the moment, whether their schemes are registered, the number of transactions Members have made with them and the dollar value of Member purchases.
Exporting the Merchant list will allow you to create your own record in spreadsheet form for reference. Click 'Export' at the top of the screen to download this spreadsheet.
Edit a Merchant
If you require more specific information for a particular merchant or want to make an update, you will be able to navigate to the merchant edit page using the three dots next to the associated merchant.
Status
After clicking 'Edit' you will be redirecting to the 'Status' page, which will give you basic information about whether the Merchant is active or inactive.
If necessary, you are able to remove or suspend a Merchant from the program by clicking 'Update' in the 'Live state' box on this page; then, change their state as required.
By clicking 'View' in the 'Offers state' box, you will be redirected to 'Offers'.
By clicking 'View' in the 'Schemes state' box, you will be redirected to 'Schemes'.
Once in the Merchant edit page you will be able to select from a broad range of tabs such as general Merchant information, offer details and opening hours.
General
General Merchant tab is the place where you can update the information that the merchant provided upon initial registration. There is also the option to control key functions such as campaign inclusion, banking detail security and fee display. When you finish editing any of the details below, just click 'Update general' at the top of the screen to save the changes.
Business
Here, you can update simple information, such as the name of a Merchant's business and business number.
Invoicing
You can also change information related to a Merchant's banking details in the event that a Merchant changes banks, for example. Simply add the account name, BSB, account number and the email the invoice will be sent to. You can tick the 'Direct debit invoice' box if the Merchant's bank account is going to be direct debited automatically, or you can leave it unticked if you will send the invoice to the Merchant and they will make payments manually. The value in the 'Minimum days to invoice box' shows the minimum number of days that must pass between when a transaction occurs and when it is invoiced; this is often set according to a Merchant's returns period and using this feature can help to manage refunds.
Merchant settings
It is also possible to change other settings for Merchants. You can choose if the rewards and fees appear on invoices together (tick the 'Combine fee and reward' box) or separately (leave that box unticked). You can allow Merchants to be included in Campaigns by ticking the 'Allow inclusion in campaigns' box (Some Merchants may not wish to participate in Campaigns but only their own unique Offers). You can decide if banking details are hidden on the Merchant platform; this can be useful in rare instances when a third party other than the Merchant is paying for the rewards (e.g. as part of a promotion). You can also choose to notify the Merchant when transactions occur (by ticking the 'Notify of transactions' box); this will send a notification to the Merchant for every transaction that receives a reward.
Customer facing details
If a Merchant changes their address or even their social media details, you will be able to edit this information too. Please remember that latitude and longitude are important for accuracy on Google Maps. This information will help Members find a Merchant more easily and lead to more sales! Simply type the relevant information into the necessary fields.
Branding
A Merchant's branding information can also be changed. This feature comes in handy if a Merchant changes logo or changes their branding strategy.
When you have finished updating any Member information, remember to click 'Update general' at the top of the screen. (Note that Merchants must request that the Program Operator update most of these details and cannot update them themselves.)
Offers
A ‘Program’ Offer is the baseline Offer that has been established by the Program Operator and is the minimum reward requirement to participate in the program.
To set up a Merchant with a program Offer, simply select the the three dots next to the associated merchant and 'Edit'.
Then select the 'Offers Tab'.
All Merchants can be assigned a Program Offer (this is the 'always on' Offer that has been established and configured by the Program Operator out of band). All you need to do is set the start date and select ‘add offer’.
Enter a title and set the start and end dates for your Offer either through the use of the calendar function or by typing the date into the field directly using d mmm yyyy format (i.e. 1 Dec 2020).
Set the Offer fees that the Merchant will pay to you. This can be a percentage (of each Member's purchase) or a fixed amount.
You can also include an Offer image to grab Members' attention. This can be the Merchant’s logo or another photo agreed upon by the Member and Program Operator.
A description of the program Offer can be included in the Offer text field.
Reward Provisioning
There are currently two reward types. You can utilise either a percentage reward or fixed dollar reward. The percentage reward allows you to set a percentage of each purchase that will be rewarded to the Member. 
The fixed dollar reward allows you to encourage customers to make larger purchases by setting a minimum spend (i.e. $15 reward for any spend over $100). Use the dropdown box to choose the type of reward, and type in the percentage or fixed dollar amount, (and optionally, the minimum and maximum spend) that you wish to reward.
Restrictions
You can apply several restrictions to the Offer. First, you can choose to have the Offer apply all day by ticking the 'Apply Reward All Day' box, or you can choose specific times for when the Offer will apply. Choose the start and end times for when the Offer would apply.
Next, you can choose which days you want the Offer to apply. The default setting is for an Offer to apply every day, in which case all the boxes are ticked.
Finally, you can choose which visit the Offer applies to. If you tick the 'All visits' box, meaning that every time a Member makes a purchase with the Merchant, they will be participating in the Offer and receive rewards.
The 'First' visit option means the Offer only applies to a Member making their first purchase from this Merchant but not to any subsequent purchases from the same Member.
The 'Second' or 'Third' visit option mean that an offer would not apply to a Member’s first purchase from this Merchant but only to their second (or third depending on the option chosen).
Please note that First Visit means the first time ever that a customer has made a purchase the Merchant as a Member, NOT the first time the Member has made a purchase since the beginning of the Offer. Likewise, the Second Visit means the second purchase ever from the Merchant as a Member, not the second purchase in the life of the Offer.
Budget
The Offer budget allows you to determine the maximum spend of the Merchant on this specific Offer. For example, the Merchant may be willing to set aside $5,000 to go towards the Offer. If 100 different Members each make a purchase, and their total reward value PLUS the program fees have reached the limit of $5,000, then the Offer will automatically switch off at the end of that business day. Just type the maximum spend that you have agreed on with the Merchant in the Offer in the Budget field. If you don’t wish to set a budget, just leave the field blank.
Once created, this Offer will then act as the Merchant's 'always on' baseline Offer.
Schemes
For a Merchant to be an active participant in the rewards program, they must also provide their Card Acceptor ID (CAID, also known as MID), and in some instances also provide their Bank Identifier Number (BIN) and location ID for both MasterCard and Visa. This information can be added under Merchant Schemes.
You can add a scheme for a Merchant in two ways. First, you can select 'Add scheme manually' if the MID/CAID, Provider and BIN are already known. (Note: Usually, the location is not necessary and this field can be left blank.
Simply fill in the relevant fields and click 'Add'.
Alternatively, you can use a lookup tool to find a scheme. Click 'Add schemes using lookup tool'.
Choose your payment gateway/terminal provider from the drop down list.
And finally type in the business trading name to find the schemes.
On this page, you can view a Merchant's schemes whether they are:
 | You are still collecting information about these scheme and have not sent it to be registered. |
 | You have collected all of the information, the scheme is now in the process of being registered with Visa, Mastercard or Eftpos. |
 | Visa, Mastercard or Eftpos have successfully registered the scheme. |
 | The scheme has been removed and is no longer tracking transactions. |
 | An out of band error has occurred in scheme registration. The scheme will need to be re-registered. |
If you click the three dots next to a scheme, you can 'Edit' that scheme.
If the scheme is 'Unregistered', you can edit any of the information you wish to.
However, for schemes in the other statuses (i.e. registered, pending, removed or errored), you are only able to edit the 'Location' and 'Doing business as name' of the scheme.
When you have finished editing, click 'Update'.
To remove a scheme, please contact Loyalty Now.
Opening Hours
The Merchant Opening Hours function allows Merchants to display customised information to their Members. Use the tick boxes to indicate the days on which the Merchant is open. Likewise, use the sliders to indicate the opening hours on days that a Merchant is open. If the Merchant is open for 24 hours on a particular day, you can indicate this by using the 'Open 24hrs' toggle.
If the Merchant whose profile you are editing has split hours, such as a restaurant that opens for lunch and closes temporarily in the afternoon before opening again for dinner, you can reflect this with the sliders. Just click 'Add hours'.
Another slider will appear for the same day. Adjust the sliders to indicate the split opening and closing times for the Merchant.
If you wish to delete one of the sliders, click the garbage can next to the slider.
After you have finished editing the information, click 'Update open hours' at the top of the page.
Users
Want the ability to assign multiple users as administrators? The Merchant Users function allows you to search and add authorised admin users to your program, as well as nominate a primary user or delete existing users.
To make a user the primary user click 'Set as primary' next to the user's name.
The only difference between a primary user and another user is that the primary user will receive notifications (e.g. if an Offer reaches its budget limit). All users can use all other functions on the Merchant platform.
To delete an existing user, just click the garbage can icon next to the user you wish to delete.
Business Categories
The Business Categories tab shows the categories that a Merchant is related to. The categories will help Members search for relevant Merchants. The categories can be edited by ticking the relevant boxes. Each tab, such as 'Dining' or 'Retail', will offer a range of subcategories, allowing you to select options specific to the Merchant. Just tick the relevant boxes as you progress through the tabs.
For example, a dining Merchant can select the cuisines they offer (e.g. Vietnamese), the type of dining (e.g. pub) and any special features (e.g. vegetarian). As you tick the boxes, the categories will be displayed to the right of screen.
Once the correct options have been selected, simply use the ‘Update categories’ button.
View Merchant list
The Merchant List allows you to filter merchants based on activity and transaction history.
Use the tick boxes to navigate through each of the merchant states.
| Current | A Merchant with an active, registered scheme |
| Closed | A Merchant which has closed or no longer has an active Offer |
| Archived | A Merchant who opted out of the program |
You can limit your Merchant list further based on Merchant activity.
| Active | A Merchant with a current Offer |
| Future Active | A Merchant with an Offer that will be active in the future |
| Inactive | A Merchant without a current or future active Offer |
And also by the existence of transaction in the last fortnight or month (i.e. whether a Merchant has had at least one reward transaction or not in the last 14/30 days).
Exporting the Merchant list will allow you to create your own record for reference.
View Merchant transactions
Merchant Transactions allows you to filter merchants based on transaction date ranges and view transaction history.
Looking for a specific merchant transaction? Enter the merchants name or merchant code along with the date range of the transaction and merchant status (i.e. active) and select search.
After searching, you will be shown results with a transaction reference number, date and time, postcode, Merchant code and name, and purchase value.
If you wish to download a copy for your records, just click 'Export".
View Merchant preboarding
Merchant preboarding will let you see Merchants who have been recommended by Members to your program, or who have self-registered to seek approval for participation in your program.
On this page you can toggle between a list of self-registered Merchants and Merchants from Member recommendations.
For self-registered Merchants, you are able to view the Merchant’s name, the date they registered and a contact email for the merchant.
You can use the three dots next to the Merchant to either invite the Merchant to your program or reject the Merchant.
For Merchants recommended by Members, you can see the name of the Merchant, the date they were recommended, a contact email of the Member who recommended the Merchant and a description written by the Member. You can also see the Status of the recommendation (i.e. Not actioned or Rejected).
You can use the three dots next to the Merchant to either invite the Merchant to your program or reject the Merchant.
You can also click on a Merchant in the list. This will take you to the 'Edit Merchant' page.
Note: If a Merchant has already been invited to your program, they can be found using the Merchant search page.
View the Merchant update requests
To ensure the accuracy of all Merchant information in your program, any changes a Merchant requires are to be completed by the Program Administrator.
A Merchant will request a change, and that request will appear in 'Merchant Update Requests'.
Changes with a status of 'completed' have already been actioned, whereas a status of 'pending' means you have not made the requested changes yet.
You will be able to view the specific changes that a Merchant has requested by selecting 'View details'.
You can manually make the change by editing the Merchant’s details by using the Merchant search page, and selecting the 'Edit' option.
Add a comment once the update is completed.
Once you have finished updating the relevant details, select 'Mark as complete'.
View transactions
Do you want to see information on specific transactions made by specific Members at a specific Merchant? On the ‘Merchant’ page, click ‘Transactions’.
On this page you can view every individual transaction made in your rewards program. You can view information about the Merchant, Member, purchase amount and the Member reward. You can filter your search at the top of the screen.
To filter for transactions in a specific date range, type the dates in a D MMM YYYY format (e.g. 1 Nov 2021) or use the drop down calendar.
You can search for a specific Merchant, using either the Merchant name or Merchant code.
Or for a specific Member, using either the Membership number or credit card number.
When you are happy with the filters, click ‘Search’.
If you wish to download a copy of your search for your own records, click ‘Export’.
You can then view your search results below.
If you wish to view more details about a specific transaction, click ‘View’ next to the transaction list item.
You will be given more information about the transaction:
First, details about the transaction amount, date, cards used and status.
Next, the transaction and status dates and times (i.e. the time and date the transaction changed from AUTH to Cleared).
Information about the reward amount and reward type (percentage or fixed).
The reward cost for the Merchant, including the fee.
Member information (number, email and name).
Merchant information (number unique to your program, name)
Scheme information for the AUTH status.
Scheme information for the Cleared status.
Invoice information, such as the date of the invoice and the status of the payment.
View Commissions
The Commissions page allows you to view your earned commissions.
To do this just select the payment schedule date from the drop down list.
You will then be able to view the associated transactions and also have the option to export the information for your own records.
To download a spreadsheet of the list, click 'Export'.
When a Merchant is added to the program, there is the option to include various authorised users that will have specific credentials to access the relevant Merchant portal. These users can be managed and reviewed using the authorised users function.
Use the search bar to find the all of the users for a particular Merchant.
You will then gain an overview of the usernames, primary user and any access limitations.
What is the difference between Percentage and Fixed Dollar reward types?
The merchant I have registered does not have a CAID, why is this?