World’s first Smart City rewards programme
Waterfall City Management Company has announced the upcoming launch of Waterbucks, a world-first Smart City Rewards Programme, marking a major advancement in value creation with a milestone not yet achieved in leading smart cities such as Singapore, Dubai or London.
Waterfall City: Africa’s Smart City Pioneer
Developed in partnership with Pinnacle Rewards and their global technology leader Carlton One, Waterbucks introduces a digital rewards layer into Waterfall City’s ecosystem – a pioneering first that connects people, places, and businesses in a meaningful way. For Waterfall City, the introduction of Waterbucks underscores its position as a global pioneer in urban innovation.
“Smart cities are often defined by their technology – connectivity, infrastructure, automation,” says Willie Vos, CEO of Waterfall City Management Company. “At Waterfall City, we always strive to go a step further. With Waterbucks, we are making technology even more meaningful in people’s everyday lives – rewarding them for choosing to live, work, and play here. It’s a human-first approach to smart city living.”
A Smart City Loyalty First
While loyalty and rewards programmes are common across retailers and airlines, no other initiative has embedded a city-wide rewards platform into its infrastructure.
“Waterbucks will redefine the global loyalty landscape across industries, enabling continuous release of campaigns and propositions through configurable platform technology”, says Pinnacle Rewards CEQ, Terry Moodley.
The purpose of Waterbucks is simple: to reward those who choose Waterfall City. Anyone who lives, works, shops, or visits Waterfall City can participate in the rewards programme. Residents, corporate tenants, employees, shoppers and day visitors will all have access to the Waterbucks digital currency – making it a truly inclusive ecosystem.
Users will be able to earn and spend Waterbucks while doing what they already do – shopping, dining, commuting, attending events or simply enjoying city life. Every action reinforces the value of the Waterfall City community and gives back to the people who power it.
“Waterbucks is about more than rewarding purchases – it’s about creating a connected city,” says Sonja Fourie, COO of Pinnacle Rewards. “By embedding rewards directly into the Waterfall City experience, we’re laying the foundation for how smart cities globally can use technology to drive engagement, strengthen communities, and deliver real value.”
Built on Global Technology
The app-based Waterbucks programme will run on Carlton One’s enterprise-grade loyalty and engagement platform, trusted in over 185 countries. This provides scalability, advanced security, and global readiness, ensuring it is future-proof.
“This is a world-first,” says Adam Whatling, EVP & Managing Director of Carlton One. “Other cities have experimented with smart payments and mobility apps, but none have introduced a universal rewards layer that connects every aspect of city life. Waterbucks is setting that benchmark.”
Easy to Access, Simple to Use
Getting started will be seamless: those interested to join can simply scan a QR code which will appear on advertising and point of sale across the city, or download the Go Waterfall app, and sign up in seconds.
The app acts as a digital wallet, allowing people to track their balance, explore participating retail partners, and spend rewards instantly. No cards. No fuss. Just value in your pocket.
Data and Community Benefits
Through anonymised, aggregated data, Waterbucks will provide valuable insights into how people live, work and play in Waterfall City – facilitating smarter urban planning and greater business intelligence.
It will provide retail partners with a powerful opportunity to grow ROI through new customer acquisition and extended basket size and frequency – all enabled through configurable, data-driven platform technology.
At the same time, the platform is designed to strengthen community ties. Members can earn tier points for participating in community events, while features like account pooling will allow families, friends or colleagues to combine balances and unlock rewards together. Future enhancements will include gamification, ESG-linked rewards, and integration with IoT and mobility services.
Always Rewarding – and Uniquely African
Waterbucks will officially launch and be available for download later this year, but its global significance is already clear. By combining African innovation with global technology leadership, Waterfall City has created a blueprint no other smart city has achieved: the world’s first geographically bound rewards programme woven into the daily fabric of urban life.
Waterbucks is more than a rewards programme. It is proof that Africa is not following the world’s smart city trends – it is setting them. Keep an eye on the Waterfall City website for more information on Waterbucks.
