John M. Reistrup Joins Rakuten Loyalty as Vice President of Client and Consumer Relationships

BOSTON, May 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Loyalty technology and monetization leader Rakuten Loyalty announced the appointment of John M. Reistrup as Vice President of Client and Consumer Relationships. Reistrup will bring an extraordinary blend of loyalty, digital and mobile experience to grow revenue, consumer marketing, and client engagement. He will also be responsible for driving strategic partnerships, consumer marketing and data analytics, which will leverage the massive Rakuten Loyalty user base, and for the integration of new technologies into the Rakuten Loyalty Platform.

"We are thrilled to have John join the Rakuten Loyalty team," said Michael Jaconi, CEO of Rakuten Loyalty. "John's incredible blend of expertise in loyalty, payments, mobile, and eCommerce, make him a perfect fit for Rakuten Loyalty as we continue to deliver rewards acceleration technology to leading brands around the world."

Reistrup's management experience includes work with world-class brands within the dynamic industries of financial services, travel, and retail. Prior to joining Rakuten Loyalty, Reistrup was Chief Operating Officer of MobiTree, a fast growing mobile and eCommerce company. He also served as Senior Vice President for BSG Billing Services Group, and Reistrup was Vice President, Travel and Specialty Retail at Bill Me Later, and led the strategy, merchant and consumer adoption of this game changing payments company. Bill Me Later was sold to eBay owned, PayPal, and John continued leading the growth for both next generation forms of payment within these verticals. Before Bill Me Later, Reistrup was Director of Marketing Programs & Customer Loyalty for US Airways, where he was instrumental in the growth of their online and loyalty program revenue generation as part of the company's transformation to a lower cost, more profitable carrier. He was also responsible for the Dividend Miles Program, one of the largest loyalty programs in the world.

"I am excited to join the team at Rakuten Loyalty and lead the global growth of our consumer and client relationships, engagement, and monetization worldwide," said John Reistrup, VP of Client and Consumer Relationships at Rakuten Loyalty. "Rakuten Loyalty's technology and our rewards acceleration platform, combined with extraordinary consumer marketing insights, provide a foundation for growth as we evolve our services and create new value for merchants and consumers alike."

About Rakuten Loyalty
Rakuten Loyalty is the inventor of the world's most innovative rewards acceleration platform – servicing the largest loyalty programs around the world.  The Rakuten Loyalty team develops technology that gives loyalty program members the opportunity to earn rewards for their everyday online activity – opening up explosive new revenue opportunities for our clients – and giving their members the opportunity to earn the rewards they love anywhere, anytime. Rakuten Loyalty is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rakuten (JASDAQ: 4755).

About Rakuten

Rakuten, Inc. (JASDAQ:4755), is one of the world's leading Internet service companies, providing a variety of consumer- and business-focused services including e-commerce, e-reading, travel, banking, securities, credit card, e-money, portal and media, online marketing and professional sports. Selected by Forbes as 7th among the World's Most Innovative Companies of 2012, Rakuten is expanding globally and currently has operations throughout Asia, Western Europe, and the Americas. Founded in 1997, Rakuten is headquartered in Tokyo, with over 10,000 employees worldwide. For more information, visit http://global.rakuten.com/corp/.

SOURCE Rakuten Loyalty