Can Tokenisation Turn Loyalty Programs from Balance-Sheet Liabilities into Strategic Assets?

Global loyalty program liabilities now exceed US$200 billion on corporate balance sheets, while average point redemption rates across mature markets remain below 30%, based on public disclosures from airlines, retailers, and financial service providers. At the same time, industry surveys consistently show that more than 70% of consumers are enrolled in at least one loyalty program, yet they actively engage with fewer than half of these programs.  

This structural mismatch between financial cost and consumer value has turned loyalty from a growth lever into a persistent drag on capital efficiency. Tokenised consumer incentives are emerging as a structural redesign of loyalty economics, with implications for balance sheets, ecosystem partnerships, and long-term customer lifetime value. 

Why loyalty economics are breaking down 

To understand why tokenisation matters, it is essential to start with the limitations of the current model. Traditional loyalty programs operate as closed-loop systems with limited interoperability, slow partner reconciliation, and rigid redemption logic. Points accumulate as deferred liabilities, often sitting idle for years, while brands incur breakage risk, accounting complexity, and rising fulfilment costs. For ecosystem-based businesses, including marketplaces, travel platforms, and financial services providers, these constraints limit the strategic reach of loyalty precisely when cross-platform engagement is becoming critical. 

Tokenisation directly addresses these constraints by re-architecting loyalty value as a programmable digital asset rather than a static accounting unit. This shift enables faster settlement, clearer ownership, and controlled transferability across partners, changing how loyalty can be monetised and governed. 

Market leaders are testing new operating models

Large consumer-facing enterprises have already begun exploring tokenised loyalty constructs at scale. Starbucks Corporation launched Starbucks Odyssey, a blockchain-enabled extension of its loyalty ecosystem that issued digital collectable stamps tied to experiential and economic benefits. While Starbucks later paused the program to reassess customer experience and operational complexity, the initiative provided valuable proof points on consumer participation, regulatory readiness, and the limits of speculative mechanics in mass-market retail.

Importantly, it demonstrated that tokenised incentives can be deployed within a globally scaled consumer brand without disrupting core payment and rewards infrastructure. 

Headquartered in Japan, Rakuten operates one of the world’s largest loyalty ecosystems through Rakuten Super Points, spanning e-commerce, payments, travel, and telecom. Through its Rakuten Blockchain Lab, the company has explored token-based mechanisms to improve interoperability and partner settlement while maintaining regulatory alignment. Rakuten’s approach reflects how platform leaders are embedding tokenisation as an infrastructural layer rather than a consumer-facing novelty. 

In the hospitality industry, Marriott International has explored the use of distributed ledger technologies to streamline loyalty partner settlements and facilitate cross-brand redemptions. Pilot results reported faster reconciliation cycles and increased partner utilisation, highlighting how token-like architectures can unlock value in complex, multi-party loyalty networks. 

Mid-sized platforms are building the execution layer 

Beyond global brands, technology providers are playing a critical role in operationalising tokenised loyalty. Loyyal, a San Francisco-based company founded in 2014, provides enterprise loyalty infrastructure built on blockchain principles, enabling programmable rewards, partner interoperability, and real-time settlement. Loyyal positions itself as an infrastructure provider rather than a consumer brand, allowing enterprises to retain ownership of customer relationships while modernising the underlying ledger and rules engine. 

Similarly, Bakkt, launched initially as a regulated digital asset marketplace, has expanded into enterprise loyalty and rewards enablement. By combining custody-grade infrastructure with merchant payment and settlement capabilities, Bakkt illustrates how regulated token platforms can support consumer incentives without exposing brands to unmanaged compliance or security risks. These firms represent a growing middle layer between experimental pilots and full-scale enterprise deployment. 

Startups are redefining incentive design 

Early-stage companies are pushing tokenisation further by rethinking their incentive mechanics. Startups focused on Web3-native loyalty have introduced models where rewards are tradable, stakeable, or usable across decentralised partner networks. While many remain small-scale, they are influencing enterprise design choices by demonstrating how liquidity, programmability, and user ownership can drive engagement. For incumbents, the strategic value of these startups lies less in immediate scale and more in design patterns that can be selectively adapted into regulated environments. 

How tokenisation changes loyalty economics 

When executed with discipline, tokenised incentives reshape loyalty economics across three dimensions.  

First, interoperability increases redemption velocity by allowing value to flow across partners with minimal friction, reducing dormant liabilities.  

Second, programmability enables conditional rewards, such as time-bound bonuses, tier-based multipliers, or usage-linked incentives, thereby improving the precision and ROI of promotions.  

Third, transparent ledgers enhance auditability and fraud prevention, thereby reducing operational costs associated with reconciliation and dispute management.

Collectively, these effects alter the net present value of loyalty investments. What was previously an opaque, slow-moving liability can become a managed financial instrument aligned with growth objectives. 

Regulatory, accounting, and trust considerations 

Tokenisation also raises material governance questions. Regulatory classification varies by jurisdiction, with differing interpretations on whether tokenised rewards constitute electronic money, prepaid instruments, or simple promotional credits. Accounting treatment, particularly around liability recognition and revenue timing, requires early coordination with auditors.  

Consumer trust is equally critical as programs must abstract technical complexity and deliver clear value without exposing users to volatility or security concerns. The lessons from paused or restructured pilots underscore that enterprise-grade UX and compliance are prerequisites, not afterthoughts. 

A pragmatic playbook for executives 

Executives evaluating tokenised loyalty should pursue a staged approach:   

• Regulatory and accounting design, ensuring tokens are structured within favourable frameworks.  
  

• Ecosystem experimentation, launching limited partner pilots with clear KPIs around redemption rates, settlement time, and customer engagement.   

• Platform selection, prioritising providers with proven enterprise deployments, security certifications, and integration depth across CRM, payments, and data platforms. 
  

Importantly, tokenisation should be treated as a strategic capability, not a one-off campaign. 

Conclusion: From liability management to value orchestration 

Tokenised consumer incentives represent a structural evolution in how loyalty value is issued, governed, and redeemed across enterprise ecosystems. As loyalty liabilities continue to grow and partner networks become more complex, the limitations of closed-loop points systems are increasingly evident in reconciliation costs, low redemption velocity, and constrained interoperability. Token-based architectures provide a credible mechanism to enhance settlement efficiency, increase partner participation, and improve economic transparency across loyalty networks. 

The commercial impact of tokenisation will be shaped more by execution discipline than by novelty. Enterprises that align tokenised incentives with accounting treatment, regulatory frameworks, platform integration, and partner governance can materially improve the return profile of loyalty investments. In this context, tokenisation should be treated as an infrastructural capability embedded within core operating models, rather than as a standalone digital initiative or engagement experiment.