Eradicate the risk of retailer insolvency with LoveFromMe, the personal and tangible way to gift money

Avoid the risk that your gift voucher becomes worthless if a retailer goes into insolvency

A radical new way to gift money, free from the risk of retailer insolvency, has been launched in the UK. LoveFromMe is a personalised gift card scheme which can be redeemed anywhere in the World that accepts MasterCard.

Thish De Zoysa, Co-founder and Director, LoveFromMe, stated: “We all buy gift cards – for Christmas or at other times during the year as it removes the headache many of us face when it comes to choosing the right present for someone. But did you know that if a retailer goes into administration that gift card may become worthless. That is why we have launched LoveFromMe, the ideal solution that is backed by MasterCard and not a specific retailer.”

If a retailer goes into administration, the administrator may continue to accept gift vouchers at their face value, though they are under no obligation to do so. And if that retailer stops trading altogether and goes into liquidation, the law imposes a strict hierarchy of creditors to be paid out from the remaining assets.

“Consumers who have gift cards are classed as unsecured creditors and frequently receive nothing. Recent high profile retailer insolvencies – think Borders, BHS, Austin Reed and others – have highlighted the lack of legal protection for consumers buying gift vouchers. For example unused gift vouchers worth £4.7 million remained in circulation when Comet collapsed,” continued Thish.

Available to spend online and in-store at over 30 million locations around the world that accept MasterCard, LoveFromMe is aiming to change the face of the gift card market, currently estimated to be worth over £5 billion, according to The UK Gift Card and Voucher Association, 2013, and dramatically put the power back in the hands of the consumer.

LoveFromMe achieved revenues of £1.175m in 2016, with over 3,600 orders fulfilled and sales deriving from 36 different countries. The business has to date demonstrated through organic growth alone, that there is a huge market potential to launch a product successfully in under two years.

Key facts:

• 20,000 gift cards are purchased every hour in the UK. That’s on average three gift cards per person per year
• The average gift card purchase is £25 and these cards usually tie people to a specific retailer or retailing group
• The vast majority of these cards sit in an unregulated arena and are legally null and void if the retailer goes out of business
• The average card load value for corporate LoveFromMe customers is £118 and the average card load value for consumer gift purchases is £99. Furthermore, funds are securely held by a MasterCard licensed user
• The UK gift market is worth over £5 billion a year and growing
• 50% is estimated to be consumer, 50% corporate gifting
• The vast majority are single user or multi-retailer
• Corporate clients include Goodyear, Travelodge and T.M. Lewin

Thish De Zoysa, Co-founder and Director, LoveFromMe, stated: “Store-specific gift cards that can’t be spent online can be such a burden to the recipient, as can just a gift of cash because it is so easy to spend on something other than a gift. LoveFromMe has changed the way gift cards are both used and purchased and has completely re-energised a stagnant and old-fashioned market.”

A £350,000 equity crowdfunding round has been launched on Seedrs by LoveFromMe, a personalised gift card scheme which can be redeemed anywhere.

https://www.seedrs.com/love-from-me