Dive Brief:

• American Express is working with several retailers to launch the first multi-retailer loyalty program in the U.S.

• The program, dubbed Plenti and launching in May, will allow consumers to shop at one place and redeem their points at another, a concept that has been successful in other places like Canada, the European Union, and Australia.

• Participating brands feature a wide range of both retailers and services: Macy’s, Rite Aid, AT&T, ExxonMobil, Nationwide, Hulu, and Direct Energy, among others. As part of the membership agreement, Plenti will only accept one company from each kind of industry represented. 

Dive Insight:

Last month American Express almost seemed like a card on the wane. An antitrust decision in federal court promised to eat away its high-price advantage, while Costco dropped Amex as its longtime exclusive store card.

But here we see the company attempting to widen its customer base with an entirely new idea, one that is a fundamental disruption of loyalty programs, at least in the U.S. For the retailers involved, Plenti can help drive new customers to stores, and keep old customers coming back by offering a more encompassing program.

The question now is what other companies will join in upcoming months—​the coalition has already said that it is looking to add a national grocer and home improvement retailer. Because of Macy's involvement, other department store chains are already off the table, per Plenti's policy to only accept one brand in competing industry catagories. 

“When you look at the success at coalitions elsewhere in the world, there is a frequent destination,” says loyalty program expert Emily Collins, a senior analyst with Forrester Research who, Fortune magazine points out, predicted in 2013 that this type of coalition program would arrive about now. “They’re covering a lot of consumer spending categories, which is what a coalition needs to be relevant to consumers.”