Iowa City Area Chamber partners with BlendCard

IOWA CITY - The Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce has partnered with customer rewards program BlendCard to give member businesses cheaper rates. The new partnership could also spur more deals for people shopping at those businesses.

More than 100 Eastern Iowa businesses have signed up for BlendCard, which is based in North Liberty, and offer a variety of deals to the about 12,000 people who've registered for the free rewards card.

Digital Doc owner Bob Geers said the new partnership will help his small business save a big chunk of money on its BlendCard dues, which are about $600 a year.

'Probably something, as a small-business man, I wouldn't be able to afford if the chamber of commerce wasn't offering this,” he said.

The chamber said the goal is to provide more area businesses affordable access to BlendCard.

'It's directly aligned with our mission, which is to actively foster a better business environment,” said Nancy Quellhorst, Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce president. 'We really think that this is an opportunity for our businesses to grow and prosper.”

BlendCard also gives businesses valuable data like customer purchasing behaviors, which can show if advertising dollars are working.

'They buy space in a newspaper, or on a radio program. They think it works, but there's no way to know for sure,” Quellhorst said. 'This way they can see exactly who bought what.”

Customers using BlendCard could potentially get more benefits, too. The thought is if more businesses join up, shoppers will have more places and more deals to pick from.

Geers said Digital Doc has high hopes BlendCard will continue to grow.

'As more businesses start using it, it'll just be an automatic thing,” he said. 'You're going to be looking for businesses that have that BlendCard sticker on them.”