Loyalty cards – or, more generally, loyalty schemes – are marketing devices used by corporations to retain customers. They typically work by rewarding purchases with points, which can be accumulated and redeemed as discounts when making future purchases.
While not typically thought of as currency, loyalty schemes covering everything from cups of coffee to intercontinental flights do in fact have all the typical characteristics of currency systems.
Currencies such as the Belgian e-Portemonnee pose the question that if these can be designed by corporations to meet profit-based objectives, why should they not also be designed by communities to achieve economic, social and environmental aims?