CashToken Rewards Africa and Five Years of Transforming Lives, Businesses

Oluchi Chibuzor reports that in the last five years, CashToken Rewards Africa Limited has deployed a unique system that has redefined consumer reward, with the end goal being to enhance the businesses of manufacturers and service providers and the economy of individual consumers, while contributing to the economic growth of Nigeria

In the last five years, CashToken Rewards Africa Limited – a Nigerian RewardTech company – has deployed technology to revolutionise customer loyalty and customer reward with a first-of-its-kind reward program in this part of the world.

It is a unique system that has redefined consumer reward and, by so doing, enhanced the businesses of manufacturers and service providers and the economy of individual consumers, while contributing to the economic growth of Nigeria, as well as countries on the African continent where it has been introduced.

The company’s Universal Gamification of Sales and Consumer Rewards Program (UGSCRP) is the first of its kind in Africa, and it provides consumers with potentially life-changing cash rewards for everyday purchases across multiple businesses and industries.

The program has, since inception, transformed lives in a sustainable manner, creating jobs and empowering people in the course of the regular purchases they make – regardless of whether the purchases are for goods or services.

This is not the generally known reward system in which consumers must make purchases of goods or patronise services for the purpose of winning prizes in what is commonly described as reward for their patronage over a certain period. It is not a lottery in which people are expected to purchase tickets with a chance to win a fortune.

Under the program, consumers get instant and automatic cash rewards for the routine purchases they make – in most cases not even remembering, or unaware, that the purchases have attracted cash rewards. It is a program that guarantees a win-win situation for manufacturers and service providers on one side, and consumers on the other, by way of increased customer loyalty and increased customer reward, respectively.

Birth of a Revolution

The Chief Executive Officer of CashToken Rewards Africa Limited, Lai Labode, who is the main driver of the novel consumer reward system, said the CashToken Reward Program was borne out of the need to establish a new and socially smart business model for Africa that would not need to depend on charity – a model that could help African businesses to thrive in order to impact society for wealth redistribution and, ultimately, eradicate poverty on the continent.

He said the company conducted a Patronage Optimization Research to understand the most potent emotional dispensation of consumers that would spur them to increase patronage of goods and services. The research proved that nothing encourages consumers to continually patronize goods and services than the opportunity to have more cash in their pockets.

“We found that consumers are interested in cash rewards,” Labode said. “We also found out that they are not just interested in cash rewards, but they are interested in potentially life changing cash rewards. Hence, this meant that we had to create a product that would meet the expectations of consumers and also help businesses understand what consumers really want in exchange for loyalty.”

The findings from the research showed that since people must make purchases, they expect, as a matter of right, to get the best products and services. They also expect to be rewarded. This led to the establishment of the Socially Smart Business Model, a unique model that is a marriage of enterprise and social development – a cash reward system that increases patronage by consumers, and also helps businesses to grow and become responsible corporate citizens by paying taxes and meeting corporate social responsibility obligations.

“We created the Universal Reward wallet, meaning that consumers in Nigeria and across Africa will have a cash reward wallet that will work for every business,” Labode explained.

“Every time you get a CashToken, it comes as an SMS telling you that MTN, Airtel or any other business has gifted you CashToken(s) depending on the set threshold. Simultaneously you get an SMS informing you of your receipt of six naira Guaranteed Cash and a ticket into a weekly National Consumer Draw which happens every Friday. This draw is what offers consumers a chance to win between N5, 000 and N100 million. There isn’t a company that impacts people in Africa the way we have consistently been doing it.”

Impact in Five Years

In its five years of existence, CashToken Rewards Africa Limited has rewarded almost one million people with CashTokens worth about $10 million in Nigeria alone. The company has partnered over 2,000 Nigerian businesses, with increased interest by potential partners almost daily, as a result of the success of the program.

The company partnered the Lagos State government in the establishment of the EkoToken Program, the state’s official reward program. About N100 million has so far been paid out to about 10, 000 Lagosians on the program. Introducing the program has fostered an enabling environment for businesses to grow, especially small businesses, and by so doing, promoted wealth redistribution and reduction of poverty in the state.

Speaking in separate interviews on Arise and Channels television stations, Labode said CashToken Rewards Africa Limited has signed an agreement with the National Lotteries Commission, which would enable every Nigerian to receive a cash reward on every purchase they make in any part of the country.

The socio-economic implication of this development could be considered from the perspective of increased patronage of goods and services for manufacturers and providers, because of the incentive of instant cash rewards for consumers, and improvement in the standard of living of Nigerians.

Consumer Education

Labode said the company is collaborating with manufacturers and service providers to carry out public enlightenment and education to ensure people with evil intentions do not take advantage of the laudable program to dupe innocent and unsuspecting consumers in one way or the other. This action is necessary against the background of incessant cases of fraudsters phoning people to inform them about cash rewards they are supposed to have won in phony empowerment, reward or promotion programs.

Foray into African Market

CashToken Rewards Africa Limited has taken its novel consumer reward program outside the shores of Nigeria. In addition to Nigeria, the pilot phase of the program is currently being implemented in Ghana, Cote D’ivoire, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, with merchants across the continent to provide CashToken reward for consumers. The company has secured a $100 million commitment from Global Emerging Markets, to enable it to cover the entire sub-Saharan Africa, in its quest to empower African businesses and enhance the individual economy of African consumers.

The company is working in partnership with MasterCard to help establish a sub-Saharan platform for holders of the card on the continent known as MyDealZone. This Platform is a multi-vendor reward platform that is exclusive to MasterCard holders, and is the model that operates in Nigeria, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda.

The platform has, in the last 18 months, attracted over 1600 merchants across six African countries, and has recorded over 71,000 customer sign-ups and rewarded over 4000 customers with CashTokens. So far, 80 customers have won N500, 000 in the CashToken weekly draws.

While the government regularly comes up with policies and programs to grow the economy, the UGSCRP of CashToken Rewards Africa Limited has shown signs of becoming one of the most impactful private sector initiatives that are aimed at supporting the government in this direction. It has the potential of touching, and therefore improving the lives of ordinary Nigerians, perhaps faster than any program before it – from both the public and private sectors.

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