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SOURCE, Inc.: The Origin of an Open-Loop Loyalty Revolution
From Vision to Validation:
Source, Inc.
It all began with Richard’s belief that business should be built on cooperation, not competition. Early in his career, he recognized that if a deal wasn’t structured as a win-win for everyone involved, it would never endure. That guiding principle became the foundation for what would one day grow into Source, Inc.
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During the mid-1990s, when the internet was still in its infancy, Richard’s company, Premier Lifestyles, was already using loyalty rewards to attract and retain guests at its resorts. Working alongside his son, RJ, he began experimenting with emerging technologies that could help merchants reduce losses and strengthen customer relationships.
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Together, they pioneered a pre-debit verification system that read the magnetic ink on the bottom of checks (MICR) to flag bad-check writers in real time. The system proved highly effective—eventually adopted by more than 100,000 merchants nationwide—and that success inspired Richard to think even bigger.
“If it’s not a win-win, it won’t last. That rule has guided every company I’ve ever built.”
Richard G. Stewart, Jr.
Inventing the Future of Payments
RJ suggested using the same magnetic stripe technology found on credit cards to identify customers’ bank accounts and initiate an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). The idea was revolutionary—and it ultimately became the predecessor to today’s debit card system.
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When a major public company attempted to appropriate that technology, Richard and his team fought back, winning a landmark settlement. The corporation was compelled to publicly acknowledge that Premier Lifestyles was the true inventor of the tracking technology. It became lasting proof that innovation and integrity can prevail, even against the largest industry players.
The Divine Blueprint: Founding Source, Inc.
As the year 2000 approached, Richard and his team were developing their first clearinghouse technology platform called the “Reciprocal Network,” or “R-Net.” Their goal was to create a universal loyalty tracking system. At the time—and still true today—most loyalty programs functioned as closed systems, where points or credits earned in one place couldn’t be used elsewhere. Richard envisioned something entirely different: a universal, open-loop loyalty network that could share value among all participants in commerce—consumers, merchants, and charities alike. This vision became the foundation of a program he branded “LoyaltyShare.”
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To bring that idea to life, Richard acquired several key patents and, in 2000, formally founded Source, Inc., named in honor of the Creator of all things. He chose the name to symbolize both the origin of value and the divine inspiration that guided his pursuit of a more cooperative and equitable economic model.​
Source’s mission was clear:
To develop an open-loop loyalty clearinghouse that could track, calculate, and distribute rewards, referrals, and charitable contributions from a single transaction to all parties involved.
Defending the Vision—Proving the Model in the Field
Richard and his team established Source, Inc. as a dedicated technology company, transferring the R-Network and other key assets from Premier Lifestyles into the new entity. Over the following years, Source engaged in a series of successful patent defense cases, protecting its innovations against nearly 100 infringing companies, several of which were household names.
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Following one of the major settlements, Source was awarded a Bank Identification Number (BIN) and entered a long-term sponsor bank relationship with MetaBank, under the leadership of CEO Brad Hanson. This milestone marked a new chapter in Source’s evolution as a pioneering force in payment and rewards technology.
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Richard’s team went on to build and test multiple BIN-enabled, co-branded rewards cards for organizations operating across the global Mastercard and Visa networks. With every swipe, Source’s platform captured merchant, member, and transaction data—even when the transaction was “declined” by design. Because these were rewards cards rather than payment cards, the system recorded event data at the point of swipe, allowing shoppers to complete purchases using traditional payment methods. Source’s proprietary technology then unified all event data, ensuring that every participant—merchant, member, and partner—was accurately rewarded.
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Through partnerships with dozens of companies and large member-based organizations, Source issued thousands of co-branded rewards cards. During this same period, as patent litigation continued, Richard launched a sister company, HELP Worldwide, as Source’s public-facing brand. The name “HELP”—an acronym for Humanitarian Empowerment Loyalty Platform—reflected Richard’s vision of merging commerce with compassion. While HELP Worldwide focused on humanitarian outreach and marketing, Source continued to raise capital, manage its core technology and intellectual property, and oversee program governance.
From Source to ICH and Beyond
As Source continued to grow, an unsolvable risk issue related to the BIN eventually surfaced. Despite the team’s best efforts, Richard made the difficult decision to shut down the program. Refusing to let years of innovation go to waste, he strategically pivoted, transferring Source’s core technology and intellectual property into a new entity—the International Clearinghouse (ICH)—in partnership with MetaBank and its CEO, Brad Hanson.
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This transition allowed the technology to evolve into a fully regulated back-end processor capable of managing large-scale, open-loop rewards and payment settlements. ICH became the foundation for the next generation of Richard’s commerce ecosystem: WeSave.
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Today, that same DNA—open-loop architecture, clearinghouse methodology, and “fair-share” philosophy—thrives within WeSave, a people-first commerce platform that carries forward the Source lineage and Richard’s lifelong mission to build a cooperative, equitable, and transparent economy for all.
Legacy Snapshot
Premier Lifestyles - Developed the R-Network and MICR verification system
Source, Inc. - Formed in 2000 to acquire patents, defend IP, and develop the clearinghouse technology
HELP Worldwide - Created during the American Express litigation as the humanitarian and marketing arm
Source Clearinghouse - Internal division of Source that built and tested the clearinghouse technology
International Clearinghouse (ICH) - Formed in partnership with MetaBank to operate Source’s technology at scale
Modern Successor - WeSave, Inc. —A People-First Commerce and Wealth Empowerment Platform
Guiding Principle - Every transaction should reward everyone involved