Adam Bouktila, from Europechain.

The Restaurant Association of Ireland (RAI) has launched a universal gift voucher, redeemable in up to 3000 participating member restaurants and the first known voucher to be powered by Blockchain technology.

The platform was developed by eosDublin and is powered by Europechain, which offers a level of trust needed to ensure users and their customer's funds are safe and secure.

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The Gift Voucher platform is an industry first, utilizing the latest blockchain technology to secure the unique voucher codes to the Europechain Blockchain. Blockchain is a technology which is changing the world, as the world is going digital, blockchain will enable data immutability, security, and transparency.

Adrian Cummins, CEO of RAI, said: “The RAI is proud to offer a nationwide restaurant voucher for all participating members. We were excited to hear that the platform was being built using the latest class-leading technology and are happy to be part of this initiative. We look forward to building on our initial success for the years to come.

“Currently it can be difficult for individual restaurants to offer gift vouchers. They can be tricky to track, manage and process,” adds Cummins. “In addition, when giving a gift of a meal, it is fantastic to offer a choice of restaurant, so your recipient can make the choice of dining.”

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The RAI Listings site allows users to see participating restaurants by location broken down by province. Vouchers can be purchased online with instant email verification.

The voucher system includes a sales dashboard for members with real-time sales, drill-down monthly reports and an ability to forecast incoming revenue. The system can also be used to track performance, redemption and refund ratios, as well as a breakdown of sales by members.

Adam Bouktila, of Europechain, said: “At the moment, the system is super easy to use, restaurants can add their logos, have one-click profile creation and also offer individual promotions and offers.”

The RAI voucher platform consists of a listing website with a voucher purchase link using Stripe for simple integration of payment processing. The platform is integrated with the Europechain blockchain to protect against fraud and double-spending. Blockchain technology ensures transparency and immutability – no voucher need ever be lost, double-spent or unaccounted for again.

“We at eosDublin and Europechain are very proud to have worked with the RAI to develop such a progressive voucher platform which will deliver huge benefits to members and diners. This year, we will be exploring further enhancements to the voucher tool using blockchain technology such as NFT (non-Fungible Token) voucher creation, Escrow Smart Contracts, and Incentive models. 2020 is going to be exciting,” he says.

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