- All-in-one loyalty e-wallet app has over 250 brands signed up, including Sky, eBay, Selfridges and HelloFresh
- Average consumer holds £47 of unused loyalty cash with retailers – totalling £6 billion in the UK and $360 billion globally
- Valuable loyalty points go unused and eventually expire due to consumers not wanting to shop with the brand they’re linked to
- Swapi announced £860K in pre-seed funding this September
Swapi, a brand-new loyalty e-wallet platform, has launched on all app stores today promising to help consumers redeem their expired loyalty points with their favourite brands and retailers. Expired points will be swapped for Swapi’s in-app currency “Swapi Points”, which can at launch be spent with hundreds of brands in the Swapi marketplace.
Swapi’s ecosystem offers customers total freedom on how to spend and redeem their loyalty points across hundreds of retailers, a feat which has, until now, not been possible. In addition, the app will soon allow users to swap loyalty currencies between programmes to choose what suits them best, providing consumers with complete fluidity across the loyalty programmes they belong to, while also removing loyalty liability for brands simultaneously.
The simple process of converting expired points into Swapi Points means customers who have spent years accruing points, only for them to be lost due to expiration or not hitting a redemption threshold, can gain back a number of their points for free, converting them into Swapi Points to redeem with household name brands including Deliveroo, Hotels.com, FitFlop, Last minute.com, Elizabeth Arden and One4all Gift Cards.
Users who sign up early are awarded 250 Swapi Points which can be used straight away within the app on gift cards, discounts, promotional items, and products. Users can also quickly boost their Swapi Points balance by referring friends or family to sign up and each party receives bonus points to spend straight away in the app.
Swapi is the brainchild of entrepreneur Pete Howroyd, who has worked in retail loyalty for over 15 years with brands such as Harvey Nichols and Harrods in the UK and Myer in the Australian retail market. Pete’s experience demonstrated to him that, far too often, brand loyalty systems lacked innovation and that the rewards and discounts on offer were not always appealing and engaging enough for modern customers. It is from these problems that the core idea for Swapi was born.
A huge USP for retailers is the ‘direct to customer’ route this integrated solution provides, allowing retailers to reward valued customers for their purchases without the cost or time required to implement their own in-house loyalty scheme.
Swapi’s Founder and CEO, Pete Howroyd, commented on the launch:
“I am extremely proud of the product we have created as a team, and I am sure we will see customers and retailers soon reaping the rewards following the much-anticipated launch of our app. We already have so many great partners working with us and are excited to continue to work with exciting, innovative household name brands and retailers to provide the best possible loyalty programme solution for all.
“With the Swapi app launch, we are certain it will positively impact consumers and retailers while setting the stage for our upcoming seed round in December. With our next funding round, we are hoping to raise £2 million to further build out the app and capitalise on the international interest to make it available globally to benefit as many consumers and retailers as possible, and will continue to pioneer a unique and exciting range of partnerships shaping the future of brand loyalty.”
