Social media app LYKA seeks to push the promotion of a plastic-free and paperless form of gift-giving to Filipinos.
LYKA Global CEO Ryan Baird said the app is currently promoting LYKA G-iftcard in E-lectronic M-ode. (GEMs). He pointed out GEMs will be the future as it will replace plastic and paper gift cards. “LYKA GEM is the first paperless, contactless and seamless social gift card in the world. Although GEMs are freely given when you engage in the app, they can also be bought from within the app. What's good is that you will receive 5% bonus GEMs every time you purchase,” Baird explained in an interview with the Manila Bulletin.
Baird said the GEMs are getting a warm reception in the market as a lot of celebrities and influencers are already posting on the app. Meanwhile, he said users can give their friends and loved ones GEMs as gifts and at the same time earn GEMs when they post on the app. As a purchasing and payment tool, Baird said GEMs can be used to pay for products and services, and buy items from the LYKA Mall and LYKA Grocery, as well as for paying bills and other electronic loads.
He assured LYKA Philippines users it has installed several measures in its infrastructure for the protection of all subscribers including its influencers.
“Identity theft occurs even on other established social media apps, especially among celebrities and influencers. Since they are the ones that are prone to such problems, we conduct verification and give them a badge (blue check) on their profile in order to make sure that the accounts are legitimate, “ Baird said.
He added LYKA has installed video call and voice call features to verify the identity of users when they transact with each other.
LYKA had its roots as a social app that enabled users to post their photos and videos. It later evolved as an app conglomerate with features such as messaging, video calling, e-commerce, bills payment, gaming and soon, live streaming and music streaming.
When it entered the local market, LYKA introduced a different business model by enabling users to earn when they use traditional social media apps. “By using LYKA, it’s the other way around. You earn from using the app,” Baird said.
“Users earn by just posting, giving ratings to others or simply by being rated, and soon by optionally rating the ads to get the advertising budget as their reward,” Baird added.
LYKA has more than 28,000 partner merchants. What is fascinating is that due to the unique concept of the social media gift card, LYKA was able to capture even the micro-entrepreneurs. Besides having the big brands, the app was also able to penetrate mom-and-pop stores, public market vendors, cab drivers, street vendors and the likes. This is the first time for these independent businesses to accept digital payments, something credit card companies will never be able to do.
It’s just like using other popular social media apps. The main difference with LYKA is the ability to earn just from your activities within the app.
LYKA is currently onboarding more merchants and targeting 1 million SKUs to be included in the LYKA MALL giving the users more options in the use of their GEMs. The LYKA GROCERY is also being expanded to serve more areas aside from NCR and its 5 nearby provinces. Finally, new billers are being added to expand the bills payment capability for its users.
Soon, users will earn from the ads that they choose to view. It’s like every billboard paying you when you travel thru EDSA or TV commercials rewarding you just by watching them This is a feature that traditional media or any other social media apps do not have.
Baird, meanwhile, pointed out these services and benefits will be enjoyed by LYKA users once the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas issues the registration as an Operator of Payment System (OPS) to LYKA. He said the company expects it to be issued by the first quarter of 2022.