Digital Tokens are Transforming Payments

Consumers across all age groups are increasingly making purchases with tokens, indicating a wide range of new opportunities for businesses to engage with their customers and transform commerce using blockchain. That’s according to the Tokenization, Loyalty and Blockchain survey by KPMG LLP. The findings highlight the strategic business value of blockchain infrastructure and the opportunities for businesses to leverage the technology for transparent, immutable and frictionless transactions.

“Tokenization is ushering in the next generation of commerce,” said Arun Ghosh, KPMG US Blockchain Leader. “It provides inspiring new ways to classify value, either by creating new assets or reimagining traditional ones, sustained with the security and transparency of blockchain. Businesses that take advantage of tokenization can open the door to entirely new process improvements, revenue streams and customer engagement opportunities.”

While just one-third of consumers are highly familiar with this contemporary, blockchain-based definition of tokens, the majority of that group (63 percent) perceive tokens as an easy form of payment, and 55 percent believe tokens will enable them to make better use of loyalty reward points.

Blockchain Loyalty Programs Are Improving Customer Experiences

Loyalty programs are already being redefined by tokenization and present an entry point for businesses to introduce tokenization. According to the KPMG survey, 82 percent of consumers are willing to use tokens as part of an existing loyalty program, and 81 percent would trust the use of tokens more readily if they are already participating in a company’s loyalty program.

“By using tokenization, companies can develop new forms of value exchange within an existing network, such as allowing consumers to use loyalty points for purchases with different merchants,” continued Ghosh. “Not only can this create more engaging customer experiences, it offers significant operational efficiencies by accelerating the transfer of value.”

Challenges and Opportunities for Tokenization in Varying Industries
If tokens are proven to be simple to use, 79 percent of Americans would be more willing to use them. Thus, intuitive, engaging and simple token experiences could be another loyalty-boosting advantage for consumer brands.

However, the potential is vast in those industries where consumers already express high levels of loyalty. For instance, when asked about loyalty to products/services across industries, consumers reported high levels of allegiance to banks and credit card companies (87 percent), restaurants/fast food/coffee shops (86 percent), electronics companies (81 percent) and media/telecom companies (79 percent).

The report found that brands in these industries, as well as others that crack the code on developing token programs for use in a wide range of applications, will find a willing, eager and accepting market.

Read more about the benefits of tokenization here.