Narmi, a leading provider of digital banking solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with Kard, a premier provider of merchant-funded rewards infrastructure. Together, the companies are delivering a fully integrated, high-impact rewards solution designed for community banks and credit unions.

With this integration, financial institutions can now offer cardholders a seamless, loyalty-driving rewards experience directly within Narmi’s digital banking platform without the cost, complexity, or revenue trade-offs of building an in-house program.

“Community banks and credit unions want to deliver the same rewards-driven experiences as megabanks and fintechs, but without the same budgets,” said Nikhil Lakhanpal, co-founder of Narmi. “Through our partnership with Kard, we’re giving financial institutions a seamless, scalable way to delight customers, deepen relationships, and achieve top-of-wallet status.”

A Modern, Merchant-Funded Rewards Experience

Through the partnership, cardholders gain access to top merchant offers that are automatically applied after a qualifying purchase. Key features include:

• Seamless Digital Integration: rewards are natively embedded in Narmi’s platform, requiring no extra apps or friction.
• Automatic Rewards: cardholders earn cash back simply by swiping – no offer activation needed.
• Merchant-Funded Model: because offers are funded by merchants, financial institutions preserve interchange revenue while unlocking new revenue-share opportunities.
• Scalable & Targeted: rewards can be geo-targeted or customized, allowing financial institutions to request customer merchant offers tailored to their local communities.

Driving Differentiation in a Crowded Market

The U.S. card rewards market is crowded, with major banks and fintechs dominating through expensive, resource-heavy programs. For community financial institutions, matching these experiences has long been a challenge due to limited interchange economics and prohibitive acquisition costs.

This new partnership empowers community financial institutions to compete with large banks and fintechs by reducing customer acquisition and retention costs; differentiating their offerings in a competitive rewards landscape; and providing a modern alternative to outdated legacy rewards platforms. 

“At Kard, our mission is to turn everyday purchases into rewarding experiences for consumers,” said Ben Mackinnon, CEO of Kard.

“Our partnership with Narmi extends that vision to community banks and credit unions, giving them the same caliber of rewards programs that only the largest financial institutions have been able to offer — without the complexity or cost. We’re thrilled to help these institutions deliver more value to their cardholders and strengthen their position in an increasingly competitive market.”