The End of Loyalty Program Reward Silos

3 min readSep 26, 2019

Think back to rewards programs between the 1980s and turn of the millennium. In general, they worked in the same way: by doling out rewards for users in their loyalty programs. Those rewards could be exchanged for things like discounts or products within a limited catalog for rewards spenders only.

Such rigid and old-school rewards schemes seem a bit funny to us now, but the truth is, loyalty programs haven’t advanced much since then.

While the method for distributing rewards to loyal customers hasn’t always been efficient or well-planned, the basic premise is sound. Loyal customers are far more likely to spend at your store than new customers, and they also provide free marketing by telling others about you.

However, while loyalty programs can stoke major benefits to merchants, they can also work against them, as well. With the advent of the internet, digital currencies like Bitcoin, and increasing liquidity between assets, users no longer want to be pigeon-holed into a loyalty program.

To put this in practical terms, let’s imagine a local coffee shop with a loyalty program. For every purchase above $5, you’re given one point. After accumulating ten points, you’re eligible to receive a free espresso. Here are some problems with the arrangement:

1. You may not like espresso, in which case the reward is ineffective and doesn’t influence your loyalty to the coffee shop.

2. You like espresso, but not their espresso, meaning the reward doesn’t influence your loyalty to the coffee shop.

3. You like espresso but prefer other drinks. Their reward system doesn’t incentivize you to return.

There are many other scenarios, including ones where you prefer another coffee shop, but would like to save money by getting a free drink (you study at coffee shops every day). In all of these scenarios, the fact that the reward is siloed in such a way that it can only be spent at one coffee shop, and for a specific item, is a drag.

Now, imagine if you could visit the coffee shop, accumulate points, and instead of having to spend them on that espresso at that cafe, you could spend them anywhere, on anything, or trade them for other assets?

ChatTee is breaking down the barriers of rewards systems

The economy is evolving towards full liquidity between assets. In a fully liquid economy, assets can be exchanged for one another regardless of their origins or restrictions by using a medium of exchange currency.

At TEE-coin, we’ve developed ChatTee, a clearinghouse for rewards points that enables users to exchange their reward points with TEC, which can be then used in the app itself. TEC, TEE-coin’s native utility token which facilitates exchanges, is central to the ChatTee platform, TEE-coin’s native utility token which facilitates exchanges.

Imagine that you have travel rewards points that you’ve accumulated over the years but have no intention of spending. Rather than have those points go to waste, you can exchange them for TEC on the ChatTee app, which can then be used to exchange for other deals and discounts!

Maybe you don’t want rewards points of any kind, in which case you can trade your points for TEC, then spend that on purchases with ChatTee’s 40,000+ merchants.

Liquidity gives you options, and with more options comes the freedom to live as you prefer. Learn more about the exciting opportunities ahead with TEE-coin at tee-coin.com.

About TEE-coin

TEE-coin is a reward token based on cryptocurrency technology and as an exchangeable currency to many cryptocurrencies, solves the problem of the inability to use cryptocurrencies at merchants. Faster than anything else, with low service fees, in the amount you need when you need it, we provide you with the ability to top-up TEE-coin with other cryptocurrencies and to make payments speedily.