Siebel Loyalty Administration Guide > Setting Up Siebel Loyalty Programs > Process of Setting Up Loyalty Programs >

Minting Point Blocks for Loyalty Programs

To make points available for use, you must mint blocks of points when you first set up the program and periodically during the life of the program. Minting a point block is the process of creating and approving that point block.

This task is a step in Process of Setting Up Loyalty Programs.

Each point block is created for use by the brand owner company or by a partner company. Partner companies buy points, as described in Selling Loyalty Points to Partners.

Creating Point Blocks

The loyalty administrator creates the point blocks and submits them to the mint manager for approval.

To create point blocks

1. Navigate to the Loyalty Program Administration screen.
2. In the Loyalty Programs list, select the program that uses the points.
3. Click the Point Blocks view tab.
4. Add a new record to the Point Types list, and complete the necessary fields, described in the following table.

   Field	Comments
   Partner Point Block	Select this check box if the point block is to be used by a partner.
   Partner/Host	Select the company that will use these points. If the brand owner will use them, select the brand owner company. If a partner will use them, select the name of the partner. If programs are implemented by business units of the brand owner company, you can create an account for each business unit and select the appropriate one.
   Point Type	Select the point type. For more information about point types, see Creating Point Types for Loyalty Programs.
   Original # of Points	Enter the total number of points in this point block.
   Points Remaining	Displays the number of points remaining in the block after subtracting those that have been used in transactions.
   Cost Per Point	Enter your internal cost of the points. This value is useful for calculating margin and calculating outstanding liability for tax purposes.
   Sales Price Per Point	If the points will be sold to partners, enter the sales price of the points.
   Submitted To	Select the name of the mint manager who must approve this point block.
   Status	To submit the new block for approval, select Submitted.

Approving Point Blocks

After the loyalty manager creates the point block, the mint manager must approve it. The engine will use only approved blocks during processing.

To approve point blocks

1. Navigate to the Point Blocks screen.
2. In the Point Blocks list, use a query to find all point blocks with the value Submitted in the Status field.
3. To approve a point block, select Approved in Status field.

Checking the Points Remaining in a Block

When it has been approved, all the fields in the mint block become read-only, so they cannot be edited.

In the Points Remaining field, users can see the calculated value of the number of points in the block that have not been distributed. Loyalty administrators should check periodically to see which blocks have few points remaining, so they can create new point blocks as replacements.

To check the points remaining in blocks

2. In the Point Blocks list, use a query to find all point blocks with a small value in the Points Remaining field.