Foursquare has linked up with Amex for a pilot at SXSW, the technology conference in Austin, Texas. By providing their Amex card details, Foursquare users are able to collect specials and trigger donations with purchases at select Austin merchants.
The specials: participating merchants give a $5 credit to Foursquare users who check in at their store and make a purchase of more than $5.
The donations: the first time signed up users swipe their card at any Austin merchant during SXSW, Amex will donate $1 to Grounded in Music, a music-based non-profit.
I truly believe that this is a peak into the future of location-based deals and the path to profitability for Foursquare and its competitors. However, once mobile payments becomes more mainstream, I'm uncertain if they will need Amex. I would essentially expect Foursquare to build its own mobile wallet or PayPal integration that users can register to with the card of their choice.
This approach would open the Foursquare solution up to any user, regardless of whether they have an Amex card or not. Moreover, it would enable Foursquare to leverage its customer relationship to get a foothold in the payments value chain and a piece of the associated revenues.
http://www.businessinsider.com/foursquare-amex-deal-2011-3#the-first-step-is-to-go-to-amexs-sxsw-site-and-sign-up-your-credit-card-1
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