Ebates Acquires Cartera Commerce 
Ebates, the renowned leader in online cash back shopping and subsidiary of the global Internet services company Rakuten, today announced the acquisition of Cartera Commerce, a provider and early pioneer in merchant-funded loyalty marketing solutions and rewards programs. In a statement, eBates states that the acquisition will further strengthen Ebates’ portfolio of loyalty marketing offerings and provide new programs to customers through Cartera's established loyalty marketing platform. Headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts, Cartera Commerce provides a performance-based offer platform for merchants, card issuers, airline frequent flyer programs and loyalty programs. Cartera partners with companies who use loyalty programs to reward their customers and helps those customers earn more rewards by shopping with online stores through Cartera-run, partner-branded websites. Cartera works with 5 of the top 10 U.S. credit card issuers and 5 of the 6 largest U.S. airlines, and since its inception, has given away more than 20 billion points and miles. Cartera will continue operations in Lexington, and Beecher will remain in his position as CEO. Money quote from Beecher:
"Ebates has demonstrated success as a leading independent loyalty marketer and has built its brand around providing the best service to retailers and consumers. We are excited to leverage Ebates' expertise and solutions to enhance the loyalty marketing services we provide to our clients – and to work together on new and exciting offerings for our customers."
And here's the money quote from Kevin H. Johnson, CEO of Ebates:
Ebates is thrilled to join forces with an industry leader like Cartera to provide even richer opportunities to our customers. We are both working on similar opportunities and together we will be able to provide ever more compelling rewards and offers to consumers as well as more effective marketing programs to our clients."
More news about this acquisition as it develops.
