Money for tiny tasks becomes a small fortune
ý A Mitchells Plain-produced app called Zlto has caught the attention of Google, Mastercard, a number of local philanthropic funds and even a UN agency.
The award-winning digital rewards app, which uses blockchain technology, has helped 45,000 people — most of whom are otherwise unemployed youth — to earn some form of income.
Zlto has been paying unemployed youth for community services and has now expanded that by rewarding users for taking precautions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Its users are paid in Zlto currency that can be used for purchases at Shoprite, Pep stores and Pie City, buy airtime and data, get haircuts or pay for medical and optometrist visits.
Zlto was co-founded by 24year-old Allan van der Meulen in 2016, when he was a teen, with the support of Cape Town NGO Reconstructed Living Labs (Rlabs).
Van der Meulen says when the lockdown began, users flocked Zlto. “We decided to raise awareness of Covid-19 and let users earn currency by creating micro-tasks that can be done from home, like washing hands daily, applying for social grants and doing online courses.”
It has also helped provide food vouchers, airtime and prepaid electricity to its users, after a survey was done to assess people’s needs, says Van der Meulen.
Though its aim is to reduce the youth unemployment rate, it plans to use its platform for relevant causes, he says, referencing the Covid-related tasks. “The health aspect will continue after we fight coronavirus as we believe it is an important contributor to the wellbeing and development of young people.”
Before Covid-19, users earned a minimum of R45 an hour through skills training, community outreach or agriculture-related tasks. R1 is equivalent to 3 Zlto.
The blockchain is used to validate activities through the use of smart contracts. Selected Zlto “super users” are peer reviewers who weigh the legitimacy of every “deed” by looking at the proof submitted (date, time, description, references and even a photograph) before reaching a consensus. Users who have been denied payment are given a reason; and each user generates an “asset of work” — much like a CV — which is stored on the blockchain.
By helping the unemployed build this CV through their participation in community service activities and training programmes, Zlto is helping them develop their marketable skills.
Zlto works with a selection of retailers (it charges them a platform fee) and is also funded by philanthropic foundations.
Its current list of funders are the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, E Squared, Jpmorgan and the UN International Children’s Fund (Unicef).
A journey that started in 2014 at the Rlabs Youth Café in Rocklands, Mitchells Plain led Van der Meulen to become a finalist in the Seedstars start-up awards, a global competition to find the best start-ups in developing countries, in 2017.
In 2018 he was named the winner of the Google Impact Challenge (GIC).
This was key to Zlto’s success. It has secured $250,000 from Google, which allowed it to expand in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, with pilot projects in Kwazulu-natal.
Google has zero-rated the platform, which means it can be accessed without charge.
The GIC win helped the app