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Australia’s First Cryptocurrency For Fashion
Fashion house Australian Brands Alliance (ABA) will soon launch SwapPay – a fintech start-up offering fashions’ first cryptocurrency in Australia.
ABA currently sells nine of their clothing brands on online shopping powerhouse, The Iconic. Founder Paul Elsibai plans to encourage their Millennial customers to return unwanted items by offering ‘virtual coins’ to spend on one of these in-house brands.
Reducing Fashion Waste
According to Mr Eisbai, the aim of the initiative is to fix the post-purchase waste problem. On average, Australians buy 27kg of textiles each year, while 23kg are sent into landfill. Paul Eisbai says:
As a clothing manufacturer we have a responsibility to think about the life of the clothes we make. While we’re comfortable that our customers will get a long life from our clothing, we want to assist them if they tire of them or need a change.
How Does SwapPay Work?
SwapPay will accept clothing in good condition and offer a virtual coin of varying value for the items. Postage will be at the customer’s expense.
Brands themselves are able to assign the value of the coin. A coin at one brand may be worth $20, while for another it is $10.
The items will then be donated on to charitable organisations, or recycled and made into new garments. SwapPay is not the first business to offer this service. The Iconic, for example, already offers free postage for unwanted clothing, which is then donated to the Salvation army.
SwapPay is the first to offer digital currency in return.
The Future Of SwapPay
At the moment, SwapPay will only be offered with Australian Brand Alliance’s businesses.
The hope is that in time it will be offered up to other retailers both inside and outside the fashion world. It is still very much a work in progress with decisions to be made on how it will turn a profit. Paul Esibai says:
SwapPay is a communications platform, so we may charge retailers a fee for marketing through the platform. We are still ironing these things out. But one thing we will not do is make a profit from the returned clothing – that is all to be donated.
Stay Tuned
Want to learn more? Watch this space. Sign up with SwapPay to stay in the loop with what’s to come.
Author
Felicity Frankish
Felicity is an experienced writer and editor with experience in the publishing industry. She has strong media and communication professional graduated from University of Newcastle.
