LoyaltyX and University of NSW (UNSW) have partnered to launch a world-first blockchain loyalty coalition program, giving students an opportunity to earn Ether cryptocurrency at the checkout of participating merchants simply by scanning their student card.

UNSW students and staff can earn $5 of Ether for every ten transaction they make across eleven campus retailers, including Boost Juice and IGA, as part of the Unify Rewards program.

Ether is a cryptocurrency supported by the Ethereum network.

This is the first time a loyalty program allows members to transact across multiple retailers and earn a popular cryptocurrency which fluctuates wildly based on market forces. Unify Rewards will attempt to determine how members respond to this type of loyalty currency vs traditional approaches such as points.

Consumers appear to be perceiving certain big loyalty programs have devalued points balances over time to boost their profits. Cryptocurrency can serve to democratize the program design, with the value of the currency being subject to market forces of supply & demand as the program becomes more popular.

The platform solution utilises technology from Loyaltycorp, as well as Honeywell scanners as checkout.

Research for the project will be conducted by Salil Kanhere and Ron van der Meyden of UNSW’s School of Computer Science and Engineering.

Updates on the project will be posted on unifyrewards.com as the project progresses.