myWorld International AG is an Austria-based company specializing in a shopping reward and loyalty program. Its core service, the myWorld Benefit Program, connects consumers, retailers, and service providers, offering incentives and benefits.[1][2]
In September 2023, myWorld was voted the second most popular cashback portal in Germany by servicevalue.de.[3] Previously that year myWorld received the title of "America’s Best Loyalty Program" in the General Rewards category, according to an independent survey by Newsweek and Statista Inc.[1]
myWorld's roots are linked to the Lyoness shopping community, established in 2003.[8]
In 2017, Lyoness rebranded and reorganized its services under the brand name "Cashback World" and progressively transitioned its international subsidiaries to the "myWorld" brand.[9][10]
In May 2017, myWorld International Ltd. was established in London, uniting all myWorld subsidiaries under one umbrella company. Following its separation from Lyoness, myWorld has independently evolved its business model and diversified its product and service offerings.[11]
In July 2023, myWorld initiated a comprehensive restructuring. The company relocated its headquarters from London to Graz, Austria, and has since operated under the name myWorld International AG. myWorld International AG became the central service hub and the new umbrella company for the majority of myWorld subsidiaries worldwide.[12]
In September 2023, myWorld was voted the second most popular cashback portal in Germany by servicevalue.de.[13]
Also, the company supports global educational and environmental projects through partnerships with the Child & Family Foundation,[14] and the Greenfinity Foundation.[15][16]
Business model
myWorld International AG operates the myWorld Benefit Program, which provides various perks for consumers and business partners, spanning over 50 markets. For shoppers making purchases through myWorld affiliates, the program offers rewards such as Cashback and Shopping Points, which are redeemable for discounts and deals. In the B2B sector, myWorld supports businesses by offering marketing tools for enhanced customer loyalty and exposure, charging fees only upon successful transactions, and facilitating connections within its partner network.[17][18][19][20]
Previous corporate structure
In 2004, the CEO of Lyoness, Hubert Freidl, was hired as the company's director.[21] Lyoness comprises at least seven corporations registered in Switzerland,[22] nine corporations registered in Austria[23] and approximately 42 additional national and regional corporations all around the globe.[24] The name "Lyoness" was derived from the Celticmythological kingdom "Lyonesse".[25] "Lyconet" was introduced in 2014 as a new trademark name for the same group of corporations.
International organisation
The Lyoness and Lyconet trademark names cover various corporate structures. The overarching holding corporation is named 'Lyoness International AG', which is supported by several administrative departments (which are registered corporate structures): including: Lyoness eBiz GmbH, Lyoness Dataservice GmbH, Lyoness Lyco Soft GmbH, Lyoness Child & Family Foundation, Lyoness Greenfinity Foundation.[24]
Continental and country organisation
The continental organisations are subsidiaries of Lyoness International AG and are registered as stock corporations. These are:
Lyoness Europe AG (founded in 2003), "Lyoness IMEA S.A." (2009), Lyoness North America Ltd., "Lyoness South America S.A.", "Lyoness Asia Ltd." (2011).[24]
According to Lyoness, every purchase made by its members at its partner companies benefits the Lyoness Child and Family Foundation (a Lyoness-owned charity organisation)[26][failed verification] and the Lyoness Greenfinity Foundation (a Lyoness-owned organisation promoting sustainability).[27]
In 2012, Lyoness announced that it and its affiliated Greenfinity foundation would be the title sponsors of the Austrian Open golf tournament for three seasons, through to 2014.[28][29] Lyoness also sponsored the ‘European Juniors League’, a European football competition for youth teams,[30] as well as Austrian club SK Rapid Wien.[31] Lyoness announced that it would pay 9 million euros over 5 soccer seasons but would not be the main sponsor of Rapid Wien.[32][failed verification]
Legality and alleged deceptive practices
In March 2010, the Swiss magazine Beobachter published an article[33] with a big review and analyses of Lyoness. In early 2012, Kleine Zeitung published an article[34] suggesting that Lyoness operated an irrelevant shopping community. L'Hebdo, a Swiss magazine also criticed the company and its investment methods, not enough clear for general public.[35]
In February 2012, an article by Beobachter revealed that internal Lyoness communications offered members "bounties" of up to 45,000 CHF for providing "relevant information" about critics of the company. Furthermore, the article highlighted concerns about the Lyoness business model, suggesting it prioritizes recruitment over providing discounts.[36]
In 2012, the Austrian Der Standard[37], and the Swiss Handelszeitung reviewed the Lyoness and mentioned it has failed in financial fullfillment according to EU and Swiss investments regulations.[38][39][40] The Wiener Zeitung reported in 2013[40] about Lyoness (now MyWorld) regarding financial tensions between the Austrian government and MyWorld, having provided a detailed analyses on MyWorld (Lyoness) management and functioning.[40] In 2023 Lyoness filed for bankruptcy letting the new successor company MyWorld continue their shopping program https://www.businessforhome.org/2023/10/lyoness-ag-files-for-bankruptcy/
Television
On November 30, 2011, Dragons’ Den Canada aired an episode featuring the pitch of the Lyoness ‘Premium Member’ Andy Nyakas from Brampton, Ontario, asking the ‘Dragons’ to jointly invest CDN$175,000 to acquire Lyoness ‘business packages’ through him.[41] None of the Dragons were willing to invest. Instead, they ridiculed him and his business idea, suggesting that it's 'distasteful', and 'a pyramid scheme’. Robert Herjavec also advised Nyakis, who borrowed against his house to acquire Lyoness positions, not to invest any more money in the Lyoness system.[41]
Another television show that has reported on Lyoness is the Austrian public television program ORF Report. This programme aired episodes under the names ‘Lyoness - The money machine’ (November 13, 2012),[42] 'Shopping Community Lyoness' (November27th, 2013)[43] and ‘The man behind Lyoness’ (April 24, 2013),[44] interviewing experts and former participants, which both say that Lyoness operates a pyramid scheme behind the façade of a ‘shopping community’[45]
.[46] The latter episode also features hidden camerafootage of Hubert Freidl telling his followers that spreading ‘Cashback Cards’ is irrelevant – ‘it is all about the positions, positions, positions, positions’.[46]
Additionally, the document states that 46% of the Lyoness members makes $0 in commission and that the average annual expenditures, not taken into account when calculating the averagecommission, are $1,294.[47] Similar figures have been reported in 2013,[48] and in Canada.[49]
Internet
On the Internet, various websites and blogs from all over the world have focused critical attention on Lyoness, accusing the company of illegal business practices (mainly of running pyramid and Ponzi schemes) and questioning the alleged partnerships between Lyoness and several multinational corporations, as well as the validity and relevance of the certificates granted to the Lyoness shopping community. In April 2013, it was reported that former (Austrian) participants of Lyoness had organised themselves and founded an organisation and website called Plattform Lyoness.[46][50] Not much later, an international equivalent was established under the name Lyoness Complaint Centre.[51]
In the beginning of June 2013, it was reported that Lyoness filed legal complaints against the founders of Plattform Lyoness.[52][53] The founders were forced to remove legal documents concerning Lyoness from their website.[52]Plattform Lyoness has reported that a preliminary injunction in a subsequent court case forced Plattform Lyoness to change its domain name from www.plattform-lyoness.at to www.lyoness-geschaedigte-plattform.at, as the court found that domain names linking to negative content about Lyoness should carry a distinctive term to indicate that the domain is not hosted by Lyoness itself.[54]Plattform Lyoness solved this by adding the term 'geschaedigte', which is the German word for 'victims'. Lyoness' other demands were not granted by the court.
In August 2015, two former employees were acquitted in Austria on charges of fraud and money laundering.[55]
