Banks and loyalty teams are no longer evaluating tours and activities APIs just to “add things to do.” The real goal is usually broader: drive engagement, deepen retention, and keep the customer inside your own app or rewards journey.

That is why this category can feel confusing. Some providers are B2B or B2B2C infrastructure platforms. Others are consumer marketplaces that expose partner APIs. And some offer hybrid models with APIs, widgets, portals, or white-label layers. For banks and loyalty programs, choosing the right provider type usually matters more than choosing the biggest catalog. In this category, operational fit usually matters more than headline inventory size.

What banks and loyalty programs should look for first?

For this buyer type, the first questions are usually operational rather than cosmetic. Who is the merchant of record? Can members earn or redeem points inside the experience flow? Who handles customer service, cancellations, and disputes?

Do you need a full API, or would a widget or white-label path get you live faster?

For example Travel Curious explicitly highlights loyalty-program integration, points redemption, merchant services, dispute management, and fraud controls, while Viator draws a clear line between affiliate and merchant models.

Provider types: affiliate vs booking vs distributor

Affiliate is the lightest model. It is usually faster to launch, but you get less control over checkout and redemption design. For example Viator’s affiliate API is content-only, redirects traffic to Viator for the transaction, and keeps Viator as merchant of record and customer-service owner.

Booking or merchant models are stronger when you want a native experience inside your own loyalty or banking environment. For example Viator’s Merchant API keeps the transaction on the partner’s site, with the partner controlling the customer journey. While Bridgify centers on partner-owned embedded experiences through API and white-label launch paths for banks, loyalty programs, and digital platforms.

Distributor models sit somewhere in between. They typically expose inventory, pricing, and booking tools through a partner program, but access is often gated. For example Tiqets describes its Distributor API as a fit for distribution partners including OTAs and corporate benefits or gifting platforms, while GetYourGuide requires a partner account to access its marketplace API.

Integration checklist for banks and loyalty teams

Before committing to a partnership, ask yourself these questions:

• Can users earn or redeem points, cashback, or other incentives inside the flow?
• Who is merchant of record?
• Who handles refunds, disputes, and post-booking support?
• Is the launch path API-only, or are widget / portal / white-label options available?
• Are pricing, availability, and vouchers handled in real time?
• Does the product support multi-currency and localization?
• Is access instant, qualification-led, or performance-gated?
• Is the supply broad enough for your use case, or mainly attraction ticketing?

Quick comparison of platforms to consider

Platform	Best for	Provider type	Integration model	Why shortlist it	Main watch-out
Bridgify	Banks, credit cards, digital wallets, fintechs, and loyalty ecosystems	B2B2C experiences infrastructure	API + white-label + AI-led recommendation layer	Built around embedded experiences, with access to 1M+ experiences and launch paths designed for loyalty, financial, and other enterprise partners.	Best fit when you want infrastructure and merchandising depth, not just a lightweight affiliate feed
Travel Curious Access / Amplify	Curated or premium loyalty programs and branded experience commerce	B2B experience commerce platform	API + portal + widget + white-label layers	70,000+ products, private-tour strength, loyalty integration, and merchant services	More curated footprint than mass-market marketplace stacks
Viator Partner API	Loyalty storefronts choosing between affiliate and merchant	Marketplace partner program	Affiliate API or Merchant API	Clear split between redirect-led affiliate and on-site transactional merchant models, with loyalty and redemption called out as a use case	Merchant mode means more operational ownership, and access is qualification-led
Tiqets Distributor API	Attraction-led rewards catalogs and corporate benefits/gifting	Distributor API	Content + availability/pricing + booking	Strong fit for attractions, museums, and ticketed inventory	Booking access is reviewed based on performance, so it is not always a day-one full-booking setup
GetYourGuide API	Brands that want marketplace access through a partner API	Marketplace partner API	Partner API	Direct access to the GetYourGuide marketplace	Partner account required, and the positioning is less explicitly loyalty-focused

1) Bridgify: Best for embedded loyalty and bank experiences

Bridgify

is one of the clearest B2B2C infrastructure play in this shortlist .It is positioned as an embedded experiences infrastructure platform that gives partners access to 1M+ experiences through flexible launch models, including API, Whitelabel, and an AI agent layer.Bridgify is a great option and is built for loyalty programs, banks, credit cards, digital wallets, travel tech platforms, and other enterprise brands that want embedded content inside their own customer journeys.

That matters because banks usually do not need “just another marketplace feed.” They need a way to launch embedded experiences through API or white-label, attach incentives such as cashback, gift cards, or points redemption, and avoid managing multiple suppliers themselves.

2) Travel Curious Access / Amplify: Best for curated and points-enabled programs

Travel Curious

is one of the more relevant non-OTA options for this audience because its stack maps well to branded experience commerce. Travel Curious Access offers 70,000+ products, instant availability, API / portal / widget launch options, and multi-currency support, while its widget model names Travel Curious as merchant of record.

Amplify goes a step further for loyalty-style use cases. Travel Curious says rewards or loyalty programs can be integrated into the experience flow so customers can earn and redeem points, and it also highlights merchant services, dispute management, fraud controls, and white-label activation.

The trade-off is that Travel Curious looks more curated than mass-market. That can be a strength for premium programs and private-tour use cases, but it is a different proposition from a pure volume-driven marketplace feed.

3) Viator Partner API: Best for teams deciding between affiliate and merchant

Viator

is still one of the clearest examples of why provider type matters. Its API Solutions page explicitly says it supports airlines, OTAs, e-commerce companies, and loyalty brands, then splits the offer into Affiliate API and Merchant API. The affiliate version is content-only and redirects traffic to Viator, while the merchant version keeps the transaction on the partner’s site and lets the partner own customer support and pricing control.

For loyalty programs, that makes Viator useful because the choice is straightforward. If you want a lower-lift launch, affiliate is easier. If you want tighter brand control and a more native redemption flow, merchant is the stronger route. The main watch-out is that the two models come with very different operational responsibilities.

4) Tiqets Distributor API: Best for attraction-heavy rewards and benefits

Tiqets is strongest when the catalog leans toward museums, attractions, and other ticketed experiences. Its API program describes a direct connection to its catalog, structured content, real-time pricing and availability, booking and cancellation support, and dedicated technical and commercial support.

Their Distributor API is aimed at distribution partners including OTAs, corporate benefits and gifting platforms, electronic distribution systems, and destination management companies.

There is an access nuance worth noting. Tiqets says new partners usually begin with affiliate portal access plus Content and Availability APIs, and eligibility for the Booking API is reviewed based on performance. So Tiqets can be a strong specialist fit, but it is not always a fully open booking API from day one.

5) GetYourGuide API: Best for marketplace-led access

GetYourGuide remains relevant because its API gives partners access to the GetYourGuide marketplace for tours and activities. Its API page is also very direct that partners need to contact GetYourGuide to create an account and gain access.

For banks and loyalty programs, the appeal is recognizable marketplace inventory through a partner API. The limitation is that, based on the current partner-facing page, GetYourGuide is less explicitly positioned around loyalty mechanics than providers such as Bridgify, Travel Curious, or Viator’s loyalty-language partner materials.

Which platform type fits which program?

If you need embedded “earn-and-burn experiences” ( a system where users can both collect points and redeem them within the same platform) inside a bank, card, wallet, or loyalty app, the most obvious B2B / B2B2C fits here are Bridgify and Travel Curious. Both are framed around partner owned journeys, and Travel Curious explicitly adds loyalty program integration and points redemption.

If you want the clearest choice between a lighter affiliate launch and a deeper merchant setup, Viator gives the most obvious solution. If your rewards mix is mainly attractions and museums, Tiqets is the sharper specialist. If your team mainly wants access to a large consumer marketplace through a partner API, then GetYourGuide belongs on your shortlist.

Final take

The best tours and activities API for a bank or loyalty program is usually not the one with the loudest consumer brand. It is the one whose provider type matches your operating model. For embedded, partner-owned experience commerce, Bridgify and Travel Curious stand out as the most B2B-led fits in this list. Viator is the clearest comparison when you want to choose between an affiliate and a merchant. Tiqets is especially strong for attraction-heavy benefits or gifting use cases. GetYourGuide remains relevant when marketplace access is the main goal.

Ace investor Ashish Kacholia on Monday sold his entire stake in Brand Concepts via a bulk deal valued at Rs 3.9 crore. The shares were purchased by Suryavanshi Commotrade Private Limited, a Kolkata-based unlisted commodity trading and financial services firm.

Brand Concepts is a fashion retail company, specialising in curating travel gear, handbags and lifestyle accessories.

Kacholia offloaded nearly 1.8 lakh shares in the company that represented 1.44% equity. The shares were sold at a price of Rs 217 apiece, which was at a 5% discount over the Friday closing price of Rs 228.90 on the BSE.

The stock today ended at Rs 215.50, falling, by Rs 13.40, down 6% from the previous close.

Also read: BEW Engineering bulk deal: Ashish Kacholia exits SME company as stock slumps 44% in a year

Kacholia’s stake sale comes following a significant underperformance in the microcap counter. It has plunged 36% over a one-year period amid continued weakness in the overall smallcap segment. It has slipped below its 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMAs) of Rs 271 and Rs 315, respectively, according to Trendlyne data.
Company’s current market capitalization stands at Rs 269 crore.Kacholia, fondly called the ‘Big Whale’ has investments in at least 50 stocks as per the public shareholding data. The net worth of his portfolio is Rs 2,420 crore according to Trendlyne. Some of his portfolio stocks include Shaily Engineering, Xpro, Safari Industries, Balu Forge, Faze Three, Brand Concepts, Stove Kraft and Aeroflex Industries.

Kacholia has made his latest bet on a smallcap dry fruit company Aelea Commodities, buying over 7.73 lakh shares via a bulk deal on Friday. The deal was valued at Rs 9.3 crore. The shares were purchased from Suryavanshi Commotrade Private Limited, which exited by selling its entire stake at a price of Rs 120.50 per share.

Kacholia’s bought these shares following a significant erosion in its price. The microcap counter has plunged 36% over a one-year period. The stock is down 21% in 2026 so far.

Read more: Aelea Commodities bulk deal: Ashish Kacholia bets Rs 9.3 crore on a microcap that is down 36% in a year

(Disclaimer: The recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)

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Ecolab Inc. (ECL) M&A Call March 23, 2026 8:00 AM EDT

Company Participants

Andy Hedberg – Director of Investor Relations
Christophe Beck – CEO & Chairman of the Board
Scott Kirkland – Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

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Timothy Mulrooney – William Blair & Company L.L.C., Research Division
John Ronan Kennedy – Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division
Ashish Sabadra – RBC Capital Markets, Research Division
John McNulty – BMO Capital Markets Equity Research
Seth Weber – BNP Paribas, Research Division
Andrew J. Wittmann – Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, Research Division
Steven Haynes – Morgan Stanley, Research Division
Patrick Cunningham – Citigroup Inc., Research Division
David Begleiter – Deutsche Bank AG, Research Division
Shlomo Rosenbaum – Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, Research Division
Edlain Rodriguez – Mizuho Securities USA LLC, Research Division
Jason Haas – Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division

Presentation

Operator

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Greetings. Welcome to Ecolab’s acquisition of CoolIT Systems Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. At this time, it is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Andy Hedberg, Vice President, Investor Relations. Thank you, Andy. You may now begin.

Andy Hedberg
Director of Investor Relations

Thank you. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Ecolab’s conference call to discuss our announced acquisition of CoolIT Systems. With me today is Christophe Beck, Ecolab’s Chairman and CEO; and Scott Kirkland, our CFO.

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Today’s presentation deck is available on our Investor Relations website. You can access it now and follow along throughout the call. Please take a moment to read the cautionary statements in these materials, which state that this teleconference and the associated supplemental materials include estimates of future performance. These are forward-looking statements, and actual results could differ materially from those projected. Factors that could cause actual results to differ are described in the Risk Factors section in our most recent Form 10-K and in our posted materials.

This should be the time for gold to shine. The yellow metal has the perfect opportunity to demonstrate its role as a shield for investors against inflation and geopolitics.

Instead, it has crumbled: At one point Thursday it was down 14% from before the Israeli-U.S. war against Iran began. Investors would have been better off in the tiniest microcap stocks than in the oldest source of safety.

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Pune: India’s food consumption is showing early signs of strain as the Iran-Israel conflict disrupts LPG availability, squeezing both households and businesses that rely on gas for daily cooking.

Consumption across key food commodities has weakened over the past three weeks, led by a sharp pullback from hotels, restaurants and the country’s vast network of street food vendors, a key driver of edible oil, flour and poultry demand, especially in the unbranded segment.

Wheat flour sales have fallen 5-7%, reflecting reduced offtake from bread and biscuit makers, while cooking oil demand is down about 6%.

“The demand for refined wheat flour (maida) from the bakery industry for bread and biscuits has reduced by about 5-7% since last 15-20 days due to the shortage of LPG fuel and is feared to go down further,” said Rohit Khaitan, vice president at the Roller Flour Millers’ Federation of India. “With the new crop already in the market, this may put the prices of wheat further under stress.”

The pressure is most visible in the edible oil market, where the bulk consumers have cut purchases. Hotels, restaurants and catering services along with millions of street-side vendors typically consume about 3.5 lakh tonnes of palm oil and 1.5 lakh tonnes of soybean oil each month.

That demand has shrunk.
“The consumption of palm oil by hotels, restaurants and canteens has declined by 40%… while soybean oil consumption is down by about 25%,” said Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive officer at Sunvin Group. Overall, demand from institutional and small food businesses has fallen 30-35%, he said.Yet prices haven’t eased.

“Although edible oil consumption has declined due to reduced demand from hotels and restaurants, the increase in freight, forex and fuel prices are keeping cooking oil prices firm in the off season,” said BV Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India.

The disruption indicates the critical role of informal food networks from office canteens to roadside stalls in driving commodity demand. With LPG supplies constrained, many of these operators have cut hours, trimmed menus, or temporarily shut shop, hitting consumption at the margin.

Demand for gram flour, or besan, a staple for India’s fried snacks, has dropped 10-12% as roadside eateries and small food businesses scale back or shut operations due to fuel shortage.

Conference Call Participants

Scott Stember – ROTH Capital Partners, LLC, Research Division

Presentation

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan on Monday sent a letter to shareholders along with the firm’s annual report that detailed the bank’s history and its role in America’s growth as the nation prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding.

Moynihan noted that Bank of America’s oldest legacy institution, The Massachusetts Bank, was formed in 1784, just one year after the Revolutionary War concluded with the Treaty of Paris. The bank’s depositors helped the firm grow by lending money to new and expanding businesses that made up the early U.S. economy.

“From our country’s earliest days, we supported those communities. We have supported the development of American capitalism. We did what a bank does – help its customers and clients grow,” Moynihan wrote. “Bank of America’s legacy banks formed in communities around the country, and were there every step of the way as those communities filled out our nation.”

Bank of America also traces its roots to franchises in New England that date back to the early days of the country, as well its North Carolina company, which is the surviving company of those legacy banks and was formed over 150 years ago to help finance the development of the region’s industries as the U.S. developed from an agrarian society to an industrial society. 

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“Funds from afar were not sufficient or readily available and local banks formed to help needed factories get built in their communities,” Moynihan wrote in reference to banks established along the Eastern Seaboard in the early years of America’s independence.

Banks in the nation’s capital grew along with the expansion of the federal government, while the firm’s Texas-based company helped fund the region’s resource boom and those located in the Great Plains spurred the economic growth of the Midwest and West. It also opened a bank in the Pacific Northwest.

Around 1930, A.P. Giannini’s Bank of Italy – which helped support the reconstruction of San Francisco after the great earthquake and fires of 1906 – purchased a small firm called The Bank of America, Los Angeles. After eventually consolidating, Giannini changed the name to Bank of America.

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“Companies that are now Bank of America provided funding for the Erie Canal, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the American government’s requirements for the War of 1812, World War I and World War II, as well as many other national priorities,” Moynihan wrote.

“Whether it was private citizens, governments or companies of every size, in communities across our growing country, Bank of America was there to help capitalism flourish. We were there to help foster the interdependent relationship between capitalism and democracy.” 

“For the 250 years of the American idea in action, the activities of countless individuals, families, farmers and other small businesses, large institutions, governments at every level, the opportunities provided by capitalism – a financial return on labor through wages, and on capital and investments, interest on your idle funds, facilitating investments in bonds to build infrastructure, making loans to entrepreneurs to grow their businesses – helped build our country we have today,” he explained.

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The letter also discussed how Bank of America grew its presence around the world by helping U.S. firms pursue global ambitions as well as providing financial services at the federal government’s request to facilitate access to new markets or help rebuild in the wake of conflicts.

Among the examples cited were the bank opening for business in Argentina in 1917 to support American companies engaged in the wool trade, as well as the establishment of operations in Great Britain in 1931 as the U.S. emerged as a creditor nation after World War I.

In the aftermath of World War II, Bank of America became the first bank to open for business in Japan at the request of the U.S. occupation government to provide loans to shipping companies to restart Japan’s postwar economy. 

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Bank of America opened in France in 1953 to support the post-World War II reconstruction of Europe and build on the success of the U.S. government’s post-war Marshall Plan. It also opened a Middle East headquarters in 1972 when it entered the newly formed United Arab Emirates to support U.S. companies developing the region’s resources.

Leonid Radvinsky, the billionaire owner of OnlyFans, has died at the age of 43 after a long battle with cancer, the company has confirmed.

Radvinsky, who was born in Ukraine and raised in Chicago, acquired OnlyFans in 2018 from its UK-based founders and oversaw a period of explosive growth that transformed the platform into one of the most influential businesses in the creator economy.

In a statement, OnlyFans said he had “passed away peacefully” and asked for privacy for his family.

Founded in 2016, OnlyFans allows creators to share content, ranging from fitness and cooking to adult material, directly with subscribers, who pay monthly fees or tips. The platform takes a 20 per cent commission on transactions.

Under Radvinsky’s ownership, the company’s growth accelerated dramatically, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, when lockdowns drove a surge in both creators and subscribers. Within three years, he had joined Forbes’ list of billionaires.

By 2024, OnlyFans had generated $1.4 billion in annual revenue from more than $7 billion in transactions, according to its latest filings. The platform hosted around 4.6 million creators and attracted more than 377 million registered users globally.

Radvinsky’s net worth was estimated at $4.7 billion.

The platform’s rapid expansion was accompanied by significant regulatory and political scrutiny, particularly around its association with adult content.

UK regulator Ofcom launched an investigation in 2024 into concerns that underage users may have accessed explicit material. While the probe was later dropped, OnlyFans was fined around £1 million for providing inaccurate information about its age verification systems.

The company has also faced criticism over its handling of illegal content and accusations that some user interactions were managed by third-party operators rather than the creators themselves — claims that have led to legal challenges, though none have been successful to date.

In 2021, OnlyFans briefly announced plans to ban explicit content in response to pressure from payment providers and regulators, before reversing the decision within days following backlash from users and creators.

Beyond OnlyFans, Radvinsky invested in technology ventures through his Florida-based firm Leo.com and supported philanthropic causes, including donations to cancer research institutions such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

A graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in economics, he had also reportedly explored a potential sale of OnlyFans in recent years as the business matured.

Radvinsky’s tenure at OnlyFans reshaped the economics of online content creation, enabling millions of individuals to monetise their work directly and challenging traditional media and entertainment models.

While the platform remains controversial, its impact on the digital economy is widely acknowledged, particularly in how it redefined the relationship between creators and audiences.

His death marks the end of a pivotal chapter for one of the internet’s most disruptive platforms, with questions now turning to the future direction of the business he helped transform into a global phenomenon.

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