Blockchain Startup Centz Goes After Billions in Breakage

The Gift Card’s Dirty Little Secret

Even though gift cards have become the gift of choice for more and more consumers, many cards often go unused or end up in the back of a draw or bottom of a purse with a balance still on it. Whether it is the rich aunt or caring grandmother who gives a gift card or your boss’s annual bonus, the fact remains that these gifts are never fully utilized.

Currently with the majority of retail gift cards being issued, consumers are unable to find formal or recognized exchanges to take full control of their stored value. Every single gift card is, essentially, their own particular cryptocurrency, with the exception that there are no places to go where you can transfer, exchange or cash out your balances. Recent estimates suggest that anywhere from 6-10% of all gift card sales never result in redemption.

Retailer Advantage

The Chicago Daily Herald recently quoted data and estimates from research company CEB TowerGroup that an astonishing $1.7 billion of the $110 billion gift cards purchased in 2012 will go unused. NPR even reported in late 2011 (citing TowerGroup data) that $41 billion in gift cards have gone unredeemed since 2005.

This consumer-merchant trade-off provides plenty of economic justification for retailers to offer and even to promote gift card sales because retailers stand to derive several economic benefits from such sales. Benefits from gift cards can include increased sales, marketing opportunities, improved cash flow and inventory management and a stronger bottom line as the result of unredeemed gift cards

Perhaps the greatest benefit to retailers—is that historical consumer behavior trends show that a portion of many gift card purchases will never be redeemed. Gift card issuers recognize the fact consumers leave gift card balances unused and refer to the unspent balance of a gift card as breakage .

Reported estimates of breakage by consumer research groups vary from 10% to 19%. Even by conservative estimates, gift card breakage has the potential to significantly influence many companies’ bottom lines.

Introducing CENTZ

The world’s first gift card cryptocurrency exchange. It is a revolutionary company that issues a unique cryptocurrency called Centz Gold Bucks, which is a cryptocurrency tradeable for gift cards.

Sign up for early acces to Centz Gold Bucks Here

By using CBG’s consumers will now have the option of spending their gift card money on their terms, whenever they want and wherever gift cards are used.

The start-up firm’s patent-pending technologies include a multi-stage security system, which is part of their ‘secret sauce designed to eliminate gift card fraud, and a gift card mobile wallet. By combining these technologies Centz provides consumers what it touts as “control over their gift cards”

How to Invest in CENTZ

Centz has partnered with the OpenLedger decentralized conglomerate to launch their first Initial Coin Offering (ICO). The ICO, open both to the public and investors, will raise money for development. OpenLedger is offering investors the chance to pre-invest ahead of the public ICO, and to trade the Centz token on their decentralized exchange platform.