Sainsbury’s has introduced a “lock” feature for customers using its Nectar loyalty app, designed to protect them from losing their points to fraud.
The grocery giant has started launching its “spend lock,” with the tool enabling customers to freeze their accounts and set where their points can be redeemed.
With the feature turned on, an account holder will need to give manual permission to redeem the points. The lock can only enabled or disabled by the account holder.
The lock has not yet been launched across all Nectar accounts, according to The Grocer.
Previously, anybody with access to an account number could receive the Nectar points as there was no lock or limit on where they could be redeemed.
The new lock is one of a range of security measures the retailer has launched in recent months, due to hundreds of its customers reporting the theft of their points.
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When it initially reported the problem in January, This Is Money said shoppers had lost an estimated 12.5m points to scammers during the past year, the equivalent of more than £63,000.
Some customers said their points had been stolen in-store, hundreds of miles from where they lived, despite scammers having no access to their app, card or other information.
Although Sainsbury’s did not explain how fraudsters had stolen the points, the Mail reported that thousands of anonymous Nectar account numbers have been circulated by criminals through secure messaging apps, with some selling access to the accounts.
A Nectar spokeswoman said: “We’ve recently introduced a new spend lock feature to add an extra layer of security to our customer accounts, allowing customers to lock their points until they’re ready to spend them.
“Security is our highest priority and we have a range of measures which help to safeguard our customers’ points.”
Sainsbury’s launched “Your Nectar Prices” for the first time on its website in 2023, allowing users to get personalised prices online as well as in stores.
The supermarket reported seeing record numbers of customers buying items at Nectar Prices over Christmas. The scheme was extended to over 9,000 products in the run up to the holiday.
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