In 1981, American Airlines’ launched their Frequent Flier Programme which is often regarded as the first full-scale loyalty programme of the modern era. As technology evolved, loyalty programmes progressed into a data-grabbing tool for brands, masked under marketing as “beneficial perks” for the shopper.
Despite this, over half of customers rated rewards as important for both big-ticket, and small, habitual purchases according to a recent research study by Wirecard. With this in mind, it is highly important for brands to retain their customers through additional incentives; especially given the increasingly saturated retail markets.
A New Wave of Loyalty Programmes
One company breaking the mould is Plutus, a London based FinTech startup who has just unveiled its plan for an innovative and lucrative rewards programme. The company currently offers a finance app that allows users to manage/convert/spend both crypto and fiat from a single interface in what they claim to be “Better than a Bank”
Plutus introduced the world’s first decentralised loyalty token and their recent announcement focuses on multiple new use cases for the innovative rewards. What does this mean exactly? Traditional centralised loyalty reward programmes have always been fixed to specific stores, meaning there are a limited number of opportunities to earn rewards. Plutus, however, has fixed their loyalty programme to a Visa Debit Card, meaning you can earn rewards at over 400 million merchants (online and in-store) across the world. Anywhere that Visa is accepted, you can earn crypto back as loyalty rewards.
The loyalty rewards are a cryptocurrency token called Pluton (PLU). Every time a user spends with their Plutus Card they will earn up to 3% of the purchase back in PLU.
What Can you do with these PLU? Why is it so Groundbreaking?
A company press release recently outlined a number of new use-cases for the token which sets it apart from any other loyalty programme.
Firstly, being decentralised not only means that the token can be earnt anywhere, but it also means it can be transferred to other people. Traditional loyalty programmes like Nectar points are stuck on a single account; PLU, on the other hand, can be sent to friends or family on the blockchain.
Secondly, being decentralised means that it carries its own fiat value determined by external markets. Plutus members can convert their earnt PLU into additional fiat to continue spending anywhere in the world. Plutus has integrated a decentralised exchange into its platform to make converting PLU into spendable currency as easy as possible.
However, the most astonishing reveal was the introduction of additional cashback on top of the 3% cryptoback (PLU). Plutus has formed affiliate partnerships with internationally known, billion-dollar companies to offer cashback to Plutus Members spending with their Plutus Card.
This means that every qualified member will stand a chance earning double rewards; a 3% cryptoback reward in PLU and a % cashback reward in their local currency loaded straight into their Plutus account. So far the team has only revealed two of the affiliate partners but these are two of the largest travel and accommodation giants in the world, Airbnb and Skyscanner.
The CEO & Founder of Plutus commented:
“Our members will now be able to tap into the colossal online marketplace of Airbnb and Skyscanner. These are key partnerships that’ll enable us to offer double-dip rewards, both cryptoback and cashback”.
Innovation and Future Plans
As the loyalty rewards sector continues to grow, we continue to see different forms of innovation; and cash-back on top of crypto-back is certainly something new to emerge. According to the Plutus team, there are more transformative features scheduled for release that will significantly elevate their position in the market. The product has had a strong entry into 2020, and it puts themselves on the map for a strong year ahead in the crypto card game.
If you haven’t already, you can read the full list of use-cases for the Pluton token here.
Android App: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.plutus.android&hl=en
iOS App: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/plutus/id1410685948