Manila: Loyalty points and rewards earned through the swap of recyclables are what officials of bXTRA Philippines consider as key advantages to encourage more users of their mobile application. bXTRA is a cloud-based customer loyalty platform that allows its more than 67,000 users to earn points from approximately 75 merchants across various sectors, including food and beverage businesses, pet shops, and medical and dental clinics.

According to Philippines News Agency, users can earn points by swapping their recyclables at collection centers managed by Basic Environmental Systems and Technologies Inc. (BEST), a company involved in waste management contracting. bXTRA's president and managing director, Jan-Vincent Mercado, expressed optimism about increasing their user base by highlighting the ecological benefits of their business model during a briefing on Wednesday.

Mercado explained that the waste-to-cashback program was developed not to compete with other players but to enhance their internal ecosystem. Although the company commenced operations in 2018, it is only launching this year due to setbacks, including the pandemic. Most of bXTRA's merchants are located in Metro Manila, with some based in Bacolod City in the Negros Island Region, facilitated by a waste management collaboration with the local government.

The company aims to expand its merchant network to around 160 in the near term. Lawyer Jonathan Mangundayao, bXTRA's legal and corporate secretary, emphasized the unique value proposition of their loyalty and trash-to-cashback programs. "It is not us per se that gives out cashback but the stores within our system," he explained. "People will use our platform because they definitely would want to use their points from the wastes that they swapped to buy items from the different stores within our system."