Right now SigmaLedger introduced that its coupon anti-counterfeit answer CuBE (Coupon Enterprise Change), which makes use of blockchain, has been adopted by P&G (Procter & Gamble) and Walgreens.
A few weeks in the past, a story hit the news a couple of Virginia couple that racked up $31.8 million in losses to retailers and producers via coupon fraud over a three-year interval. Lori Ann Talens, who created the counterfeit coupons that she typically bought to others, was sentenced to 12 years.
Talens manipulated the barcodes so that they scanned as authentic, generally giving a $24.99 low cost on a $25 merchandise. If the barcode doesn’t provide you with an error, the cashier will settle for it. It typically takes a number of weeks for the coupon to go to a clearinghouse, the place it is likely to be flagged as fraudulent. Solely then will there be a block on it.
The answer is to confirm the coupons in opposition to a listing on the level of sale. SigmaLedger makes use of blockchain to securely share knowledge with retailers, which is finished by way of a partnership with EPAM Techniques.
“The adoption of CuBE has geared up our group members with the know-how to establish and reject counterfeit coupons, resulting in an total discount in losses related to coupon fraud,” mentioned Heather Vondrasek, Asset Safety, Walgreens.
Other than being an anti-counterfeit answer, the coupon redemptions are additionally tracked, permitting real-time reporting. This type of digital answer utilizing a shared ledger reduces the reconciliation prices and means retailers get reimbursed quicker.
SigmaLedger makes use of an enterprise model of the Ethereum blockchain.
It’s not the primary blockchain answer to handle coupons and rewards. Hitachi demonstrated a blockchain coupon settlement system in 2018. Final yr The Coupon Bureau adopted Hedera Hashgraph for the same answer. There are a a lot bigger variety of corporations utilizing blockchain to trace rewards and loyalty applications.