As a crypto-enthusiast, I am on the constant lookout for real life uses of cryptocurrency. I recently stumbled on a soon to be released loyalty program that has the potential to help solve some of the biggest problems facing cryptocurrency. In general, cryptocurrencies have been held back from mainstream success because of 5 things: price volatility, slow transaction speeds, high transaction fees, lack of customer knowledge, and not enough participants. The C4 project is aiming to provide solutions to all of these problems which will help bring the potential of everyday use for consumers.
***This program is in the pre-launch phase and is due to go live in mid January 2019. In full disclosure I am a proud affiliate for the Life Leadership marketing company. However, I am writing this article because I am passionate about the development of cryptocurrency and the solutions they provide for businesses and consumers in the marketplace.
My intention with this article is to help you understand how blockchain and cryptocurrency can provide real life advantages to you over traditional platforms.
What does C4 Stand For?
Content, Commerce, Community and Cryptocurrency.
These are known as the 4 C's and are vitally important to ensure success for the customer and the partner store participants.
Content: is the products and services provided by the 60,000+ nationally recognized partner stores.
Commerce: allows for the exchange of money between customers and merchants. This is provided by the credit card processing companies that allow transactions between customers and merchants.
Community: is provided by a marketing company who builds a customer base and future growth strategies.
Cryptocurrency: is provided by a company who develops and maintains the blockchain platform.
Without these 4C's a blockchain reward program will not succeed.
How does the C4 Program work?
This program will work similar to most of the loyalty reward programs you currently use, with a few important differences.
For starters I am going to assume that you know what a loyalty program is. When I say loyalty program, I am referring to those little reward cards that accumulate points when you make purchases at stores. Once you have accumulated enough points you can then exchange them for rewards.
With that being said, lets look closer at how the C4 program will work for the consumer...
Step 1) First, you will download the app (not available until mid January 2019)
Step 2) Next you will have participating merchants scan the QR code in your app.
Step 3) You will then be given your discount (usually between 5-15%) and you will then pay for your transaction like usual.
Step 4) Lastly, your reward account will automatically be credited with cryptocurrency which you will be able to exchange for rewards at any of the 60,000+ partner stores. Or you will be able to exchange the cryptocurrency for fiat paper money.
The process is very simple and easy to use.
You receive payment in cryptocurrency because it costs the processing company less money to complete the transaction. As a reward, they pass on some of the savings to you. The exact details as to which type of cryptocurrency, or token, will be paid has not been released yet. Official announcement will be coming in mid January.
Does it cost anything to be involved?
No. This is a free program. You will need to sign up with basic information like your name, email and phone number and then just download the app for free. This is not an ICO and does not require an up front investment. This app and program are scheduled to go live in mid January. You can click here for more details.
Which companies have partnered with this program so far?
As of the pre launch announcement in October there were over 60,000 partner stores who have agreed to participate. Many of these companies are nationally or internationally recognized stores that you would be familiar with. Companies like:
Dominoes Pizza, Bonefish Grill, IHOP, Krispy Kreme, Carrabas Italian Grill, Pappa John’s, Kmart, Tijuana Flats, Lands End, Cold Stone Cremery, Chipotle, Sears, TGI Friday, Express, Old Navy, Game Stop, Sephora, Gap, Bannana Republic, Aerie, JC Penny, American Eagle, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Outback Steakhouse, Chilis, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Applebees, The Home Depot, Lowes, Buffalo Wild Wings, Bed Bath & Beyond, Ulta, AMC Theaters, Steak & Shake, Staples, O’Charleys.
The creators of this C4 project are anticipating that there could be upwards of 100,000 partner stores at the time of launch. This is not guaranteed, but definitely possible.
What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages?
Advantages
-no need to carry many different rewards cards.
-rewards redeemable at any of the 60,000+ partner stores.
-Can be used internationally online or in person.
-Increased consumer control.
-Reward Points never change or devalue.
Disadvantages
-Newer infrastructure (expect some bugs)
-Limited proven results.
-Need to learn new program.
-Need to keep track of cryptocurrency balance like bank account.
How Does This Help Overcome The 5 Obstacles To Mainsteam Adoption?
Obstacle #1: Price Volatility
Cryptocurrencies are so new that the market doesn't know exactly how to value them yet. There are massive price swings from moment to moment. If your paying for a pizza, both you and the pizza business want to know that the price will be consistent. Using a stable token that has a fixed value attached, and is also seperate from the volatility of the overall cryptocurrency market would help accomplish this. It would be easy to imagine using tokens in the same way the Steemit does to accomplish this. The creators of the C4 Project claim to have done this.
Obstacle #2: Slow Transaction Speeds
When you make a transaction using cryptocurrency there is a verification process which is done by high powered computers solving algorithms (known as mining). Sometimes this process can take several minutes. Neither you, nor the business owner, wants to wait several minutes for a transaction to be completed. There are several different ways to accomplish this and it will be interesting to see how the designers of this project go about solving this problem.
Obstacle #3: High Transaction Fees
With traditional cryptocurrency transactions, "miners" exchange their computing power for fees that can be quite expensive. However, using a different method of verification could provide less expenses for the processing company. This is exactly how consumers will be able to be paid in cryptocurrency through this program.
Obstacle #4: Lack of Customer Knowledge
Cryptocurrencies are confusing to the average person. Many people find them complicated and don't want to have to figure out all kinds of technical details. For instance, you just want to be able to jump in a car and use it without having to know how an engine works. Having an app that can be easily scanned and seamless to use accomplishes this goal for the end user.
Obstacle #5: Not enough participants or infrastructure
Most cryptocurrency projects are starting from scratch and have only limited use cases. Having a network of over 60,000 partner stores opens up a whole new world of possibilities. This will be one of C4 project's major competitive advantages.
Who Is Leading This Project?
There are actually 4 different partners involved. A large, well known bank is funding the project and infrastructure. There is a credit card company responsible for transactions and rewards. The third is a cryptocurrency development company responsible for the creation and maintenance of the blockchain and cryptocurrency. And there is a marketing company responsible for future expansion and growth. As of the time of this writing, the C4 program is still in pre-launch and the names of the companies involved have not been publicly released. All of the partnership details are due to be released in mid January when this program becomes live.
Conclusion
Cryptocurrency offers an exciting new frontier for consumers, business' and overall economics. Most people can see the massive potential of cryptocurrencies, but are quickly frustrated when they find out that there are not many real world use cases yet. What makes this C4 project so appealing is the connection it makes between cryptocurrency and the average user. It promises simple to use technology and could provide answers to the 5 major obstacles of mass adoption. In addition, a successful implementation of this program could offer significant clues which would help cryptocurrency mature into a more usable currency for mainstream economy.
Keep an eye out for the official launch coming in mid January!
If you are interested in more details click Here.
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