OpenTable and Visa Launch Restaurant Reservation Partnership

Restaurant tech company OpenTable says it has launched a collaboration with Visa.

The partnership, announced Tuesday (July 16) and dubbed the “OpenTable & Visa Dining Collection,” is designed to offer eligible Visa cardholders “exclusive access to sought-after restaurant reservations and events” at restaurants across North America.

“The Visa Dining Collection rewards diners for paying with their Visa cards while bringing the restaurants in the Collection additional business and new customers,” said Kim Lawrence, regional president of North America at Visa. “We are excited to collaborate with OpenTable to support the award-winning, local, and independently operated restaurants on the platform by offering this new benefit for eligible Visa cardholders.”

According to the release, the partnership launched Tuesday in Los Angeles and Chicago, and includes “restaurants from MICHELIN-starred venues to local favorites and beloved culinary destinations,” with plans to expand to more than 500 restaurants in 34 cities in the U.S. Canada and Mexico by 2025.

“Our ambition is to be one of the best restaurants in the world, and OpenTable is the perfect partner to help us realize that vision with the best in restaurant tech, hands-on support and access to unique initiatives like the Visa Dining Collection,” said Ryan Bailey, whose Los Angeles restaurant Kato is one of the inaugural eateries in the program.

The partnership comes as people are paying more to dine out. Recent Consumer Price Index data showed that the price for food consumed away from home — in other words, dining out — climbed 0.4% in June, a pace that has quickened since the beginning of the year.

Meanwhile, research from PYMNTS’ “How the World Does Digital” report shows high levels of digital engagement between consumers and restaurants, especially among certain age groups.

“Consumers overall averaged 12.5 total activity days in this sector per month — that is, they engaged with restaurants online 12.5 days out of every roughly 30 days,” PYMNTS wrote earlier this month. “Among Gen Z, however, that figure rose to 20.1, and millennials, too, engaged most days, at 18.5.”

This digital engagement with restaurants varies not only according to consumers’ age but also their incomes and where they live. The same study found that high-income consumers average 14.4 activity days to low-income consumers’ 10.2 activity days.

In addition, city dwellers tend to engage more digitally. Research from the PYMNTS Intelligence study “ConnectedEconomy™ Monthly Report: The Urban-Rural Health Divide Edition,” found that three-quarters of urban consumers engage with restaurants digitally, compared to 46% of suburban residents and 28% of those who live in rural areas.