cointelegraph.com
German car manufacturer BMW plans to integrate blockchain technology into its daily operations and create a blockchain loyalty program for its customers in Thailand. The popular carmaker has onboarded blockchain infrastructure firm Coinweb as its decentralized architecture provider and BNB Chain for settling transactions.
The integration of blockchain technology into BMW’s workflow will take place in two phases. First, the decentralized tech will be integrated into BMW’s daily operations with the goal of automating time-consuming manual processes and streamlining the company’s automobile financing services.
The second phase of the project would see Coinweb develop a customized Web3 application for BMW’s customer loyalty program. The program will use a blockchain-based rewards scheme to incentivize BMW Group customers. A customer’s tier and status in the ecosystem will be determined by the loyalty rewards they have acquired via various actions.
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Owners will be able to use their rewards to purchase goods and services from BMW as well as from a linked ecosystem in the future. Binance’s native BNB chain will be used to settle transactions.
Talking about how customers will be rewarded under the upcoming loyalty program, Coinweb CEO Toby Gilbert, told Cointelegraph that customers will be rewarded every time they have touchpoints with the BMW ecosystem, be it “buying a new car or they go for a service,” he explained further:
“Customers will be rewarded with loyalty points and they will be able to spend within the ecosystem. Our hope is that there will be a future global rollout but currently our partnership is for Thailand.”
BMW Thailand’s leasing head Bjorn Antonsson said that the firm has been actively monitoring the progress of decentralized tech and its various use cases over the years. Antonsson hoped that the integration of blockchain tech in their daily operations would eliminate the manual paperwork and contribute toward the company’s efficiency and transparency.
The interest of automobile manufacturers in decentralized tech is nothing new, and BMW has been involved with the tech since 2018. BMW first used blockchain technology to track its cobalt supply and ensure its products are being supplied using ethical practices. Apart from BMW, another popular German carmaker Mercedes has actively used nonfungible tokens and crypto coins as promotional tools.
Italian carmaker Alfa Romeo used blockchain tech to track car records, while Ferrari’s new deal has hinted at NFT integration as well.