Loyalty platform RFI, RFP and RFQ checklist
Resources · Buying guide
Buying an enterprise loyalty platform usually has three stages: the RFI, to get to know vendors; the RFP, to evaluate how they solve your loyalty program; and the RFQ, to compare total cost. This checklist collects the questions for each stage, grouped by area, and what answer to look for in each one.
- RFI
Screen vendors
- Current certifications
- Data residency
- RFP
Evaluate with evidence
- Security and continuity
- Pilot with your data
- RFQ
Compare total cost
- Cost by deployment model
- Exit plan
- 18MMembers on QurableTotal the platform manages today
- < 50 msMember recognized at checkoutp95, measured server-side
- 1–3Months to go liveWith your current program or from scratch
- 99.5%AvailabilityMonthly SLA · ISO 27001
Key takeaways
- The RFI screens vendors, the RFP compares how they solve your program and the RFQ compares total cost.
- Grouping questions by area, with the answer to look for, lets you compare vendors on the same criteria.
- Written answers look alike; what separates vendors is what they can demonstrate with your data.
The three stages
RFI, RFP and RFQ: what to ask in each.
The RFI screens vendors, the RFP compares how they solve your program and the RFQ compares total cost. Each stage asks for something different, and they work best kept apart.
Who the vendor is
Clients in your industry and region, scale in production, current certifications and support team.
What the platform covers
Which modules it includes (data, program, engagement, payments, ledger, coalition) and what it covers through third parties.
How it integrates
Integrations already live with systems like yours, plus a documented API and webhooks.
Where it runs
Vendor's or client's cloud, available regions and deployment model.
Your case, solved
Ask them to answer for your real program: your mechanics, your channels and your volumes.
A test with your data
A demo or pilot on a sample of your operation, not a generic demo.
Questions by area
Architecture, data, loyalty engine, payments, finance, coalition, AI, security and implementation.
Evidence
Client references, production figures and technical documentation.
Total cost, not just license
Subscription, implementation, operations, infrastructure and support, each one separately.
How the price scales
Which variable drives it: members, transactions, modules or event volume.
Timeline and deliverables
Phases, milestones and what is working at the end of each one.
Exit and portability
How you get your data and balances back if you switch vendors.
RFP questions
The questions that set one platform apart from another.
Grouped by area, with the answer to look for in each. They work for evaluating any vendor.
| Question | What answer to look for |
|---|---|
| Where does the reward decision happen: before, during or after the payment? | If the reward must show on the same receipt, the decision has to happen inside the authorization, with measured latency (for example, at p95). |
| What happens to the sale if the platform does not respond? | The sale should not be blocked: queued earning and reprocessing once it is back. Ask which operations do require a connection. |
| Can it be deployed in your cloud or a specific region? | Deployment options (SaaS with a shared tenant, SaaS with a dedicated tenant or the customer’s cloud) and available regions. |
| How does it coexist with your current systems? | Integration through API, webhooks and files, and which systems it replaces and which it does not. |
| How does it recognize the same customer across channels? | One record per customer with all their identifiers; how they identify themselves at checkout (QR, wallet) and with what latency. |
| What data does it store and what does it only link? | Minimization: which attributes enter the platform and which stay in your CRM or data warehouse. |
| How does it handle consent and deletion? | Consent per channel, with date and source; deletion of personal data with an audit trail. |
| How does it export data to your data warehouse? | Scheduled export of members and movements, plus real-time events via webhook. |
| Which mechanics does it support without development? | Points, tiers, missions, coupons, games and referrals, and which are configured from the console. |
| How is a rule tested before going live? | Simulation on real data and a trace of why the rule fired or not. |
| Who can change rules and how are changes approved? | Role-based permissions and dual approval for changes that affect members. |
| Can it apply discounts, cashback or pay-with-points inside the authorization? | Where it works (POS, processor, checkout) and what happens on a reversal or refund. |
| Does it support split payment (points plus another method)? | In which channels it does and in which it does not. |
| How is a reward co-funded between a bank and a merchant? | How each party's contribution is recorded and how each campaign is closed. |
| Is the points record a double-entry ledger? | Every movement with its counter-entry; errors are reversed with offsetting entries, never edited. |
| How is points liability calculated? | Real-time liability by currency and country, with projected expirations. |
| How are batches and expirations handled? | Batches with issue and expiration dates, and a configurable consumption order (FIFO, LIFO or FEFO). |
| How does it reconcile with accounting? | Movement exports and reconciliation reports your finance team can audit. |
| Can partners join without an integration project for each one? | How a partner joins (API, coupons, QR) and what changes in your systems. |
| Can points be exchanged between programs? | A rate per program and an atomic operation: the exchange happens in full or not at all. |
| How is the member's account validated with each partner? | Identification mechanisms and custom validations per partner. |
| What does the AI decide and what does your team decide? | Clear limits: rules, caps and human approval before going live. |
| Can every decision be audited? | A trace per decision: what came in, what matched and what was applied. |
| Can your own AI agents operate it? | Interfaces for agents (for example, an MCP server) with the same permissions as people. |
| Which certifications does it hold today, not on the roadmap? | Current certificates with scope and date; what is current, kept separate from what is planned. |
| What availability does it commit to by contract? | An explicit monthly SLA and how it is measured. |
| How does it protect against redemption and account fraud? | Identity controls, limits and alerts on risky operations. |
| Which deployment models do you offer? | SaaS with a shared tenant, SaaS with a dedicated tenant or in the customer’s cloud, and on which providers and regions. |
| What is isolated in each model? | Data, database, compute and keys: what is exclusive to your program and what is shared. |
| Who runs, updates and monitors it in each model? | Responsibilities for updates, patches, backups, monitoring and support, especially when it runs in your cloud. |
| Can we switch models later? | How, and with how much effort, you move from shared SaaS to dedicated or to your cloud without losing balances or history. |
| How does cost change by model? | Ask for the total cost of each model in the RFQ: license, infrastructure, operations and support. |
| How long does it take to reach production? | A phased plan with milestones, and what works at the end of each phase. |
| Who implements it: the vendor’s team or a partner? | If it depends on a partner, ask which one, how much experience they have with the product and who answers when something fails. The vendor’s own team knows the product in detail. |
| How are members and balances migrated? | Opening balances with a reconciliation report, and account claiming by members. |
| Can it run in parallel before cutover? | A parallel period to compare results before switching off the old system. |
| Who runs day-to-day operations? | What your team does from the console and what needs the vendor's support. |
Deployment models
How the platform can be deployed.
There are three common ways to deploy a loyalty platform. Ask which ones the vendor offers, what changes in isolation, updates, data residency, operations and cost, and whether you can move from one to another.
SaaS · Shared tenant
In the vendor’s cloud, shared
Common infrastructure for several clients, with each program’s data isolated by organization. The vendor runs and updates everything.
- Fits when
- You want to go live fast and do not need dedicated infrastructure.
SaaS · Dedicated tenant
In the vendor’s cloud, dedicated
An instance just for your program, with its own database and resources, run by the vendor with agreed update windows.
- Fits when
- You have stricter isolation, volume or regulatory requirements.
Customer cloud
In your own cloud
The platform runs in containers inside your account, on your provider and in your region; you can also keep only the database in your account.
- Fits when
- Your policy requires data and operations to stay in your cloud, as in banking.
How to evaluate
How to compare the answers.
Written answers look alike. What sets vendors apart is what they can show with your data.
Ask for a test with your data
A simulation on a sample of your operation says more than a generic demo.
Score with weights
Decide upfront how much each area weighs for your program: not all of them count the same.
Talk to clients
References from your industry and region, at a scale similar to yours.
Separate current from roadmap
Ask vendors to mark what is in production and what is planned.
With Qurable
How Qurable answers the areas that weigh most.
Qurable takes part in RFI, RFP and RFQ processes for enterprise programs. These are the areas where the platform has its own answer.
Payments
Discounts, cashback and paying with points inside the authorization, in ~150 ms.
Loyalty at the POS and checkoutFinance and ledger
Double-entry ledger with batches, expirations and real-time liability.
See the points ledgerCoalition
Partners that join without another integration project, and points exchange at each program's rate.
See the loyalty coalitionSecurity and continuity
ISO 27001 certified, a 99.5% monthly SLA, and the sale is never blocked if the service does not respond.
See the platformFast rollout with our own team
From 1 to 3 months to production, delivered by Qurable’s team, which knows the product in detail: no partner needed to go live.
Integration and timelinesDeployment that fits you
SaaS with a shared or dedicated tenant, or in your own cloud, on any provider and region.
FAQ
What buyers ask in RFI, RFP and RFQ processes.
For procurement, loyalty and technology teams running a selection process.
An RFI (request for information) asks for general information to get to know vendors. An RFP (request for proposal) asks for a proposal to solve your case. An RFQ (request for quotation) asks for prices to compare the cost of solutions already evaluated.
As a reference: a broad RFI, an RFP with three or four vendors that passed the screen, and an RFQ with the finalists. More vendors in the RFP make the process longer without improving the decision.
A demo on your case or a test on a sample of your data: your mechanics, your channels and your volumes. A generic demo shows the product, not how it solves your program.
All three: SaaS with a shared tenant, SaaS with a dedicated tenant and in the customer’s cloud. The platform runs in containers on any cloud provider and region, and you can keep only the database or the whole platform in your own account.
Qurable’s own team, which knows the product in detail, with no dependency on a selected partner. A new program or a migration reaches production in 1 to 3 months, with a phased plan, a parallel run before cutover and documented balance reconciliation.
Continuity (what happens if the platform does not respond), payments (whether it decides inside the authorization), finance (double-entry ledger and liability), coalition (partners and points exchange) and migration (balances and parallel running).
Ask what the AI decides and what the team decides, which limits it respects, whether there is human approval before going live and whether every decision leaves an auditable trace.
The total cost, broken down: subscription, implementation, operations, infrastructure and support; the variable that makes the price grow; and the exit and data portability terms.
Yes. Qurable takes part in selection processes for enterprise loyalty and engagement programs.
Last reviewed
Further reading
Keep reading before you set up your process.
Pages that explain the areas that weigh most in an evaluation.
- ResourceTransaction Intelligence
What it means for loyalty to decide inside the payment.
- PlatformThe loyalty and engagement platform
The five modules and how a purchase flows.
- ModulePoints ledger
Liability, expirations and the audit trail of every point.
- ModuleLoyalty coalition
Partners, points exchange and co-funded promotions.
- CasesCase studies
Programs in production, with their figures.
Running an RFI or RFP?
In a 45-minute technical session we show you how Qurable answers each area, with your program.