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Consumers will be able to exchange bonus points using Blockchain, says IBM

By TechTaffy Desk

Consumers will be able to exchange bonus points from among any of the banks they do business with to select the rewards they want, said IBM in a statement. IBM China Research Lab and China UnionPay E-payment Institute have created a business platform on IBM Blockchain, that uses the Hyperledger Fabric to create a permissioned network for the exchange of bonus points, as part of a pilot project.

This joint effort also integrates online and offline channels using blockchain. As a result, it will be possible for China UnionPay card holders to go to any offline supermarket or mall equipped with intelligent point-of-service (POS) devices, to exchange bonus points for commodities by direct scanning.

It is anticipated that bonus points from flight mileage, mobile phone bills, gas cards and food and beverage purchases can be freely exchanged and swapped in the future.

China UnionPay is a core transfer, settlement and clearing organization in China’s bank card industry, and its transfer, settlement and clearing network operates in over 150 countries.

[Image courtesy: IBM]

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