REFFIND sees blockchain progress via significant shareholding in Loyyal

Software-as-a-service tech company REFFIND (ASX: RFN) has received good news from one of its major investments, Loyyal.

The budding Aussie tech company snapped up a 14.80% stake in blockchain-based loyalty and rewards company Loyyal Corporation for US$2.3 million back in late 2017.

Loyyal has launched the latest version of its blockchain platform for loyalty and incentive programs. The company says its ‘Version 1.0’ of the Loyyal Product Suite introduces a range of benefits for customers including significant improvements in transaction performance, security, scalability and network resiliency.

“REFFIND is working closely with the team at Loyyal to monitor their progress and welcomes this upgrade of the Loyyal platform. As Loyyal’s exclusive network operator for Australia and New Zealand, we’re eager to begin integrating these new capabilities for our clients, as well as for other resellers we serve within the region,” said Tim Lea, CEO of REFFIND.

Extensive new features

The newly-added features give loyalty program operators greater flexibility in providing members with the easy transfer of points or frequent flyer miles between participating programs, all secured via “smart contracts”.

Loyyal predicts that this will dramatically lower costs and improve profitability over existing non-blockchain industry alternatives.

A further service offered by Loyyal’s product suite is multi-cloud, multi-peer architecture for enhanced disaster recovery and data concurrency. This particular branch of its service range relates to ensuring continuity and “gap-less availability” of transaction data required by users – especially the case with mobile and web applications.

In part, Loyyal refers to his set of features as “node-to-node sharing” and says its methodology and security capability within a proven product offering has attracted Fortune 500 companies and other global corporations including Deloitte, Dubai Points and Emirates Airlines.

Loyyal has also secured alluring contracts with a “large OEM manufacturer” and a “large US financial services company” that cannot currently be named for confidentiality reasons.

“This continued evolution of Loyyal’s technology and how it leverages the power of Hyperledger Fabric is precisely what we see large scale enterprise clients needing at this time, as blockchain technology continues to become a mainstream part of their IT infrastructure,” said Brian Behlendorf, executive director of Hyperledger, a development partner.

“An advantage of Loyyal’s four years in the market, being one of the earliest commercial blockchain applications, is the invaluable real-world feedback we receive from our clients,” said Greg Simon, CEO and founder of Loyyal Corporation.

“This release brings even more of the power of this exciting new technology to providers of loyalty and incentive programs, and in turn will accelerate new benefits for their members,” said Mr Simon.

Loyyal and REFFIND

The two companies are closely linked in both ownership rights, but also operational direction and overarching business strategy.

REFFIND invested a total of USD$2.3 million in Loyyal in Q1 2018 and was appointed as value added reseller and exclusive network operator in Australia and New Zealand, in the following quarter.

The agreement gave the tech company licensing rights to Loyyal’s blockchain loyalty and rewards platform, which is offered to countries within the Asia Pacific.

The extent of the influence REFFIND could wield was evidenced by the fact that the company would appoint a representative to Loyyal’s board, under the terms of the deal.

According to REFFIND, Loyyal is the first company to use blockchain technology for the loyalty and rewards industry. Using blockchain and smart contract technology, Loyyal developed its loyalty and rewards platform to offer multiple sectors a vehicle to boost profits and please customers at the same time.

From a commercial perspective, REFFIND has said that it is positioning the Loyyal product in the local market for the short and medium terms and providing “education-based sales structures.” According to a statement, the company has designed and given talks to targeted major corporates and industries about blockchain technologies in tandem with potential re-seller partners.

In further news, REFFIND said it continues to research and reach out to the loyalty marketplace and is “actively giving consideration to employing a dedicated commercial manager” to drive this side of the business when the timing becomes “optimal”.

However, not wanting to get carried away with its expansion plans, REFFIND said that “the long-term upside must be balanced with the need to fund operations and maintain a controlled expansion.”

News of Loyyal’s platform feature upgrade helped REFFIND shares to jump 22%, up to $0.011 per share in mid-afternoon trade.