• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, February 26, 2013

In conjunction with its check-in deals program, Foursquare will now accept Visa, Mastercard and debit cards.

“Money in the bank,” writes CNet. “That's the motivation behind [the] new Foursquare initiative.” “This is going to be a pretty core part of our revenue model going forward,” Foursquare Product Manager Noah Weiss tells WebProNews.

Foursquare will now earn a fee from offers redeemed on the platform from all three credit card companies.

The deal comes not a moment too soon, according to Forbes. “Historically, Foursquare has been better at helping its users find ways to spend their money than at making any of its own,” it writes.

In fact, Foursquare “has been criticized in the past for struggling to monetize its platform,” The Next Web notes.

“The program builds on Foursquare’s partnership with American Express, which launched just under two years ago,” AllThingsD reminds us.

“While the American Express program was essentially a marketing partnership at its inception and didn’t generate any revenue for Foursquare, the terms have changed over time to become more lucrative,” Ad Age reports.

What’s more, expressing optimism about the monetization model, The Verge writes: “While deals sites like Groupon may have scared off some consumers and merchants, Foursquare's Specials require less of a commitment.”

Adds Fast Company: “The secret sauce is that earning discounts is a frictionless experience--they're automatically loaded to [a consumer’s] credit or debit card and just waiting to be used without hassle.”