As announced in a press release on October 26, leading USDC stablecoin issuer, Circle, has partnered with Taiwanese exchange, BitoGroup, and FamilyMart, the nation’s second-largest convenience store chain, to deliver a “Points-to-Crypto” loyalty program to millions of Taiwanese consumers.

According to Donghao Liu, the Director of Digital Finance Department for Taiwan FamilyMart, the chain’s ‘FamiPoints’ scheme has already attracted over 17 million members and Circle’s new initiative will see members able to convert their FamiPoints into cryptocurrency assets such as USDC.

According to the release, “Converting FamiPoints into USDC prevents a loss of value in loyalty points over time and incurs zero transaction fees, democratizing access to cryptocurrencies.”

Taiwan has been chosen as the venue for the initiative apparently owing to the density of convenience stores in the country, with some studies suggesting that as much as 87% of the population engage in loyalty point accumulation, and 99% of those use said points often for product redemption.

“Circle is excited to partner with BitoGroup and Taiwan FamilyMart to champion access to digital currencies in Taiwan, “ said Raagulan Pathy, Vice President of Asia Pacific for Circle. “With the introduction of USDC in the enhanced ‘Points-to-Crypto’ service, we aim to empower the Taiwanese community to participate in the digital economy seamlessly and support Taiwan’s stance in embracing digital fintech innovations.” 

According to the release, BitoGroup and FamilyMart have together facilitated the buying of cryptocurrency in convenience stores since as early as 2014, and Circle’s new initiative could stand to boost understanding and adoption of digital assets both in Taiwan, and the broader Asian economic area.