CARTERET, N.J. — Pathmark Stores here has entered into an agreement with HSBC Finance Corp.’s card and retail services business, Prospect Heights, Ill., to offer a multipurpose rewards and payment card to its supermarket customers. The new Pathmark Advantage Payment Card enhances the current Pathmark Advantage Club card by offering customers a way to earn rewards and pay for purchases with PIN debit linked to their checking accounts. A pilot launch is planned for later this year at a select number of stores in New York. The Pathmark Advantage Payment Card program is the first of its kind for a major supermarket chain in the United States that combines loyalty and rewards with decoupled debit functionality on one card, according to HSBC. “We believe that the Pathmark Advantage Payment Card will provide greater efficiencies for our customers,” said John Derderian, Pathmark’s executive vice president of business strategy and marketing, in a statement. “Using this cutting-edge technology will afford the consumer the added convenience of paying for their purchases with their loyalty card and simplify the transaction process. We anticipate a successful test launch and eventually rolling out the program throughout the entire chain.”

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