 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2019) |
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| Industry | Online commerce |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1998 |
| Founder | Charles Cohen |
| Defunct | 2001 |
| Fate | Sold to Carlson Marketing Group |
| Headquarters | London |
beenz.com was a website[1] that allowed consumers to earn beenz, a type of online currency, for performing activities such as visiting a web site, shopping online, or logging on through an Internet service provider. The beenz e-currency could then be spent with participating online merchants.
The marketing and brand concept positioned Beenz as "universal, incentive-based currency for on-line merchants… a globally acceptable alternative to money that would influence and reward on-line consumer behavior".[2] The Beenz management team raised almost $100 million from venture capitalists including Apax Patricof, Larry Ellison of Oracle, Michael Saylor of Microstrategy, François Pinault of PPR, Vivendi Universal, Italian financier Carlo de Benedetti and Hikari Tsushin of Japan.[citation needed]
Since launching a new currency is illegal in many countries, beenz management and its legal teams had to meet with finance ministers across Europe to assure them that Beenz would be categorized as virtual points. Beenz's offices in London were visited by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) on suspicion of operating an unlicensed bank.[3]
Beenz operated in the United States, Sweden, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Australia and China. At its peak, there were offices in 15 countries,[3] and translations of the beenz website into several languages.[citation needed]
After the dot-com bubble burst, the company replaced its CEO, Philip Letts, with a team including the founder, Charles Cohen, and other Board directors Stephen Limpe, Don McGuire and Sean Lane. The company could not go public, further funding did not materialise, and the company was sold to US-based Carlson Marketing Group in 2001 for an undisclosed sum.[citation needed]
Carlson planned to integrate the beenz system into the customer relationship management tools they offered to clients. After the sale of the company to Carlson, beenz account holders were given a period of time to redeem their beenz before it became integrated. Competitors like Amazon who, along with Visa, built systems allowing direct online payments via debit or credit cards, meant many of Beenz's clients moved to these new platforms, and Beenz eventually lost most of its clients.[3]
Carlson did not renew the domain name.[citation needed] In June 2008, CNET counted Beenz among the greatest dotcom disasters.[4]
- ^ "Beenz". www.beenz.com. Archived from the original on 14 October 2001. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "about beenz.com inc". beenz.com. 10 May 2000. Archived from the original on 10 May 2000. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
- ^ a b c Grant, Conor (1 July 2018). "A decade before crypto, one digital currency conquered the world — then failed spectacularly". The Hustle.
- ^ "The greatest defunct Web sites and dotcom disasters". CNET. 5 June 2008. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 5 June 2008.