Open rewards platform aims to increase customer participation and lower cost for merchants

 

HONG KONG, CHINA -- 22 October 2018 - More than 50% of the USA's almost 4 billion loyalty rewards accounts are currently inactive, recent research shows, as users struggle to manage and redeem their points timely and merchants overspend on infrastructure and maintenance.

 

GFX's new rewards platform, powered by blockchain technology, seeks to address these pain points by consolidating multiple merchant reward schemes into one integrated cross-loyalty system.

 

In short, customers will be able to redeem or exchange any participating merchant's loyalty points, while merchants should see big savings on infrastructure and network maintenance and gain valuable big data insights and industry support.

 

The problem with loyalty cards

Customer loyalty programs have been in existence since the 1700's, when retailers handed out copper pieces as rewards.

 

Currently there are an estimated 3.8 billion reward plan subscriptions in the USA alone, almost 29 per household.

 

A recent study however claims that 54% of these accounts are inactive, with almost 1 in every 3 consumers abandoning their rewards programs without having redeemed a single point.

 

Customers complain that there are too many programs, with a lack of transferability or reward options. Points are difficult and time-consuming to manage and often expire without their knowledge. Users ultimately lose interest and abandon these programs.

 

On the other side of the checkout counter, merchants struggle to justify their high IT expenditure on infrastructure and maintenance when measured against the usually low customer participation and engagement numbers.

 

The GFX Ecosystem

GFX's network will help affiliated users maximize their rewards. GFX points have no expiration date and can be used to redeem goods and services from any participating merchant.

 

For merchants, the platform promises increased customer awareness and engagement, access to big data, a sophisticated off-the-shelf IT infrastructure as well as favorable accounting where points are not reflected as liabilities on the balance sheet.

 

How it works

Participating merchants link their loyalty programs to GFX's platform at an exchange rate that is floated relative to GFX's digital reward asset. 

 

For example, Merchant A is an airline, while Merchant B is a boutique store. One hundred of Merchant A's points equal 20 GFX points, while Merchant B's 100 points are worth 50 GFX points.

 

Users can use all of Merchants A and B's points for a total of 70 GFX points that never expire and can be used for any participating merchant's rewards. 

 

Customers will be able to join the GFX platform directly or through different loyalty-rewards programs.

 

The GFX Team

GFX's experienced team is headed by Mr. Nori Ishihara (CEO), an expert in M&A and global investments. Other senior members include Mr. Eyal Rosenthal (COO), previous MD of the $600M private equity fund Infinity Group, Mr. Shoichiro Tanaka (CSO), director of VLC Holdings and Mr. Vincent Lee -- CTO and founding member of Coinbama, a Hong Kong based digital asset platforms. (roc/*).