Creditz – Digital Currency’s Curious New Cousin

Surfing around this week I bumped into “CREDITZ(R)“. Since the RSS entry was touting it as a Digital Currency I had to take a look. Well….its not a DC like I have discussed in the past few years, but its worth a look. Here is what their web says:

CREDITZ(R) is a ubiquitous digital currency and rewards program that offers a unique value proposition generating real cash benefits to each of its market constituencies including consumers, merchants, digital content providers, manufacturers, credit card issuers, etc.

CREDITZ™ is a bit like frequent flyer miles back when they were originally introduced to the public. People collected them and used them as a bonus or incentive. However, as they became more popular, users started to sell them or exchange them for other goods.

If CREDITZ™ becomes popular, it is silly to believe that they will not be sold or exchanged in some kind of secondary cash market. If they are optimistic, they should prepare for it. However, we are years away from that date. More on the company:

The Company has partnered with the payment industry and other transaction enablers on a revenue-sharing basis to accelerate its proliferation into the marketplace.

So why do they call it a digital currency?

You get and spend your CREDITZ™ using your CREDITZ™ Account Card but you can’t withdraw hard currency from our card. It always stays in a Digital Form. We transfer CREDITZ™ between merchant and you, as the consumer, digitally.

Users cannot sell or exchange their CREDITZ™ for cash or any other digital currency such as Webmoney.

You can spend your CREDITZ™ at the same places where they were awarded to you, or any other participating merchants that display the CREDITZ™ sign. At the checkout let the store clerk know that you will be using your CREDITZ™ Account Card to pay for merchandise.

Greenzap also does something very close to CREDITZ™.

Its pleasing to see more entries and innovations in this area of the digital money market. In my humble opinion, this is a bit gimmicky for a sales tool. I prefer coupons.

I would like to know if anyone else uses Greenzap or prefers these kind of ‘rewards’?