Digital Value

Executive summary #

Digital transformation has digitised money, tickets, loyalty, memberships, benefits, access and payments. It has not made value interoperable. Many vouchers remain tied to one merchant. Many loyalty balances remain tied to one platform. Many benefits still require their own application. The world has become more digital while value itself has stayed fragmented.

This paper defines Digital Value: any digitally represented value, entitlement, benefit, allocation or access right that can be issued, governed, distributed, accessed and settled through digital infrastructure. It then describes Tiports PromoCore. With PromoCore, an issuer can create a value allocation, bind it to a beneficiary, restrict where it can be used, expose it through several channels, and settle independent providers when it is consumed.

The central shift is this. Today, applications own value: a hotel owns its guest credits, a brand its loyalty points, an NGO its vouchers, an employer its benefits. With PromoCore, applications still issue value, but the value itself becomes an independent object that other organisations can accept under the issuer's rules.

PromoCore is in production. It powers Pandley's consumer credits, credit-enabled checkout and preloaded wearable in Nigeria, and it provisions digital value against student and staff identity at Hospitality Business School. Section 11 and Section 12 describe these deployments and the API that supports them.

In summary

• Units are defined by the issuer. A unit can mean NGN, USD, GBP, a hotel night or a medical consultation. Where an acceptor must be paid, the obligation settles in a configured settlement currency.
• Rules travel with value. Issuers decide who can use it, where, when, through which channel and at which participating entities. PromoCore enforces those rules at the point of access.
• One value, many interfaces. The same allocation can be reached by QR, NFC, wearable, web link, manual code or API.
• Access and settlement are connected. Issuers choose a prefunded model or configurable settlement through PromoCore's payment orchestration layer.
• Embeddable. Issuers and platforms use PromoCore through its API without exposing PromoCore as the consumer-facing product.
• Simple pricing. 1.5% of settled value, capped at 5,000 units of the settlement currency.

The problem: digital, but still fragmented #

Specialised value has produced specialised infrastructure. A healthcare programme builds a healthcare voucher system. An event builds a ticketing system. A hotel builds a guest credit system. An employer builds a benefits system. An NGO builds an assistance system. A transport operator builds a mobility system.

Each can work well in isolation. The difficulty begins when value has to cross an organisational boundary.

Consider a health fund that supports a beneficiary. The money originates with the fund, but the care happens at a hospital, then a laboratory, then a pharmacy, each an independent business with its own systems. Somebody must decide what the beneficiary is entitled to, confirm it at each provider, and make sure each provider is paid. In many programmes this still requires paper, manual reconciliation, or a closed network that only a few providers join.

This is not a payment problem. It is a problem of distributing, authorising and settling value across organisations that do not share a system.

Why now #

Programmable value across organisations was impractical a decade ago. Several conditions have since converged:

• APIs are standard. Banks, payment providers, institutions and merchants now expose and consume APIs, so a value layer can connect to their systems instead of replacing them.
• Payment rails are programmable. Transfers, collections and payouts can be triggered by software, which makes automated settlement to independent acceptors possible.
• Access hardware is cheap. QR is free to print, NFC cards and wristbands cost little, and basic phones receive SMS codes. A credential no longer requires a smartphone.
• Identity is digital. Institutions, employers and programmes increasingly hold digital identity for the people they serve, giving value something to bind to.
• Funders want targeting and proof. Donors, employers and sponsors increasingly expect value to reach a defined purpose and to be auditable after it does.

The components exist. What has been missing is a layer that treats the value itself as the object to be governed, rather than rebuilding it inside every application.

What Digital Value is #

Digital Value is broader than digital money. Money answers one question: how much? Digital Value answers several: how much, for whom, for what, where, when, and under what conditions.

Traditional value versus Digital Value

How value has evolved

Programmable, contextual value #

Programmability turns a passive balance into an active instrument. Rules can be set on identity, time, location, acceptor, product or service, transaction size, frequency of use, organisational relationship, eligibility, funding source and lifecycle.

A beneficiary holding 50,000 units of healthcare value does not need to understand any of this. They present their credential at a clinic. PromoCore checks that the clinic is an approved acceptor, the value is within its validity period, and the transaction is inside its limits, then authorises or declines.

Context gives value meaning

The same nominal amount can be unrestricted money, healthcare support, food assistance, a transport allowance, an employee wellness benefit or a promotional credit. The amount alone does not describe the instrument. Its context does.

PromoCore is therefore unit-agnostic at the value representation layer. The issuer defines what a unit represents. An issuer in Lagos may issue 500 as NGN 500; one in New York as USD 500; one in London as GBP 500; a hotel as 500 points of guest experience.

Representation and settlement are distinct. Where using value creates an obligation to pay an independent acceptor, PromoCore resolves that obligation in the configured settlement currency over existing payment infrastructure. PromoCore is not a universal record of anything called value; it governs issuer-defined value and settles the monetary obligations that value creates.

Restriction works through the issuer's approved acceptor list, not a single fixed category. One credit can therefore carry value usable across health, agriculture and education at once, with the issuer deciding how wide the acceptor network is.

Architecture: separation of concerns #

PromoCore separates value from the things that usually get bundled with it. Each concern can change without the others being rebuilt.

Figure 1. Many issuers, many entities, many channels, one programmable value infrastructure.

Because the value model is not rebuilt for each sector, the same infrastructure runs a consumer credits programme, a school's staff and student entitlements, and a humanitarian assistance programme.

The digital value object #

At the centre of PromoCore is the digital value object: a programmable record of a value relationship. Conceptually it carries an issuer, a holder or beneficiary, a quantity, a purpose, eligible acceptors, permitted channels, a validity window, usage rules and a settlement arrangement.

{
  "issuer":      "health-fund-lagos",
  "holder":      "beneficiary-10482",
  "units":       50000,
  "unitMeaning": "NGN",
  "purpose":     "healthcare",
  "acceptors":   ["clinic-014", "pharmacy-207", "lab-033"],
  "channels":    ["QR", "NFC", "CODE"],
  "validity":    { "from": "2026-10-01", "to": "2027-03-31" },
  "rules":       { "maxPerTransaction": 15000, "lockToPhone": true },
  "settlement":  { "model": "prefunded", "schedule": "daily" }
}

Figure 2. Conceptual model of a digital value object. This illustrates the data PromoCore reasons about; it is not the API wire format, which is covered in Section 12.

Channels and the human interface #

There should be no single mandatory interface for value. A smartphone suits one environment, a wristband another, a printed code a third. An enterprise needs an API. PromoCore exposes the same value through QR codes, NFC, wearables, web links, manual codes and API, and the issuer chooses what fits.

For the person using the value, the interaction should be short: tap, scan, present, or enter a code. They should not have to open an application, log in, find a balance and generate a code every time.

Complexity belongs in the infrastructure, not in the user's hands.

Designing for inclusion

Useful value infrastructure cannot assume the newest smartphone, constant connectivity, a bank account or high digital literacy. A manual code works on any phone that receives SMS. A wristband works for someone with no phone at all. Choosing the channel by environment is how digital value reduces barriers instead of replacing one technical requirement with another.

The three-party relationship and controlled interoperability #

Traditional value runs in a closed loop: issuer to user and back to the same issuer. PromoCore is built for a different relationship, in which the organisation that creates value is not the organisation that delivers the experience.

Figure 3. The issuer funds and defines value; the beneficiary uses it; the acceptor delivers the service and is settled from the issuer's funding.

This is controlled multi-entity participation, not open participation. No acceptor can take value unless the issuer has approved it.

Interoperability is usually discussed in terms of systems talking to each other. Two systems can be technically connected and still not share value. The more useful question is whether value created in one context can be governed and used in another.

The goal is not that value works everywhere. It is that value works wherever its rules permit.

Issuers control participating acceptors, approved sectors, geography, transaction limits, validity periods, beneficiary groups, settlement arrangements and permitted channels. Interoperability itself becomes programmable.

Network effects

Because acceptors participate in the infrastructure rather than in a single programme, each participant makes the network more useful to the others. An acceptor already on PromoCore can be added to a new issuer's approved list without a new integration. Each new issuer gives existing acceptors more programmes to earn from; each new acceptor gives issuers more places to direct value and beneficiaries more places to use it. Integrations and settlement relationships built once are reused by every programme that follows.

Composability

Several value components can form one experience. An event attendee might hold admission, a food credit, VIP access, a sponsor benefit and a merchandise entitlement. Rather than six separate instruments, these are coordinated under one credential.

The digital value lifecycle #

1. DefineDecide what the value represents and what a unit means
2. FundEstablish economic backing: prefunded or configurable settlement
3. IssueCreate the value object, singly or in bulk
4. DistributeDeliver it to the holder: SMS, account, card, wristband, partner system
5. CredentialBind access to an identity, phone number, device or instrument
6. DiscoverLet the holder or acceptor see what value is available
7. AuthoriseEvaluate the rules at the point of access
8. AccessConsume the value, in full or in part
9. SettleResolve the obligation between issuer and acceptor
10. ReconcileRecord and match activity for issuer, acceptor and auditor
11. Renew or expireExtend, renew, reissue or retire remaining value

Funds flow and settlement #

Access creates an obligation. When a beneficiary uses value at an independent provider, that provider must be paid. PromoCore connects authorisation with economic resolution so that the two are never handled in separate systems. Issuers choose one of two models.

Model A: prefunded

The issuer funds the programme before value is issued. PromoCore maintains the authoritative value record and enforces the rules. When value is accessed, PromoCore records the obligation and settlement is released to the acceptor from the programme's funding on the configured schedule.

Best for: humanitarian assistance, employee benefits and sponsored programmes, where funding certainty for acceptors matters more than the issuer's capital efficiency.

Model B: configurable settlement

PromoCore acts as a payment orchestration layer. Funds stay with the issuer or its payment provider until value is actually used. On access, PromoCore generates settlement instructions through its API and executes them on existing payment rails. The issuer keeps its capital until consumption.

Best for: enterprises, institutions and merchants integrating value into existing payment and finance systems.

Pricing

PromoCore charges 1.5% of settled value per transaction, capped at 5,000 units of the settlement currency. Because PromoCore is unit-agnostic, the fee is applied in the context of the programme: at settlement, PromoCore resolves the obligation in the settlement currency and calculates the fee on that settled amount.

PromoCore in production #

PromoCore's first applications run through Pandley Limited (RC 7210243), a consumer and programme brand whose credit infrastructure is provided by Tiports Limited. Pandley demonstrates three distinct uses of the same infrastructure: issuance and distribution, commerce, and wearable access.

Production snapshot, September 2026.

Pandley Credits: issuance and distribution

Pandley sells prepaid credits usable across partner categories including cinema, dining, cafes, spa and salon, events and family leisure.

• The customer pays by bank transfer or card at pandley.com.
• Pandley calls the PromoCore API to issue a credit code against the customer's purchase.
• The code is delivered by SMS and stored in the customer's Pandley account.
• The holder can lock the code to their phone number so only they can spend it. Until locked, it can be transferred to someone else.
• At a partner, staff enter the code; PromoCore validates the rules and records the access.

Credits are valid for five years and renew automatically. They do not convert back to cash; they pay for goods, services and experiences at participating acceptors.

Pandley Shop: credits at checkout

On Pandley's shop, a customer can apply existing credits to an order and pay any balance by bank transfer or card. PromoCore validates and applies the credit, the payment provider collects the remainder, and the order is fulfilled as a single transaction. Here PromoCore works as a payment orchestration layer, not a voucher store.

Pandley wearable: value on the wrist

Pandley's wristband ships with credits preloaded. The holder taps it at any Pandley acceptor: no card, no cash, no phone. The same value is reachable through a code or a tap, which is the channel principle of Section 7 working in practice.

Programmes

Beyond consumer credits, Pandley offers programme deployments on PromoCore for staff benefits, healthcare access and humanitarian cash and voucher assistance, with category and location rules set by the issuing organisation.

Hospitality Business School: institutional provisioning

Hospitality Business School integrates PromoCore directly into its institutional systems through a server-to-server API connection. Digital value is provisioned against student and staff IDs and linked to institutional access. Each student ID is issued as an NFC card with a QR code, used for exam access and attendance, and each ID can carry PromoCore value such as dining credits or partner benefits. Entitlements follow a person's institutional identity rather than a separate consumer account. The school's systems remain the source of truth for identity; PromoCore holds and governs the value.

This deployment shows PromoCore in an enterprise environment: no consumer purchase flow, no public storefront, just value issued by an institution to its own people under its own rules.

Integrating with PromoCore #

PromoCore exposes a REST API for digital values. Each issuer account authenticates with its own API key, sent in the X-API-KEY header. Keys are scoped to the issuing account, so an issuer can only act on value it owns.

Designed to be embedded

PromoCore does not need every sector to become a PromoCore application. Issuers, enterprise platforms and sector-specific products use its value primitives through the API while presenting their own brand to their users. Pandley and Hospitality Business School both work this way: their users see Pandley and HBS, not PromoCore.

The examples below illustrate the integration model. They are not a complete API specification.

Issuing value

POST /api/digitalvalues/create
X-API-KEY: <issuer-api-key>
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "valueCode": "PND-7Q4K-2M9X",
  "valueType": "Credit",
  "amount": 20000,
  "expiry": { "year": 2031, "month": 9, "day": 23 }
}

Accessing value

POST /api/digitalvalues/scan
X-API-KEY: <acceptor-or-issuer-key>
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "valueCode": "PND-7Q4K-2M9X",
  "amount": 7500
}

Figure 4. Illustrative requests. Field names are simplified for readability; the PromoCore API reference is authoritative.

Two integrity rules are enforced server-side on issuance: value codes are unique per issuer, and expiry is rebuilt by PromoCore from the submitted date rather than trusted from the client.

Applications: proven, near-term and emerging #

PromoCore is not a healthcare system, an event system or a retail system. Those are applications. The primitives stay the same: issue, distribute, authorise, access, settle. Only the context changes. Applications are grouped by how close they are to production.

Healthcare

A fund issues a defined healthcare allocation to an eligible beneficiary. The beneficiary uses it at participating hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies and clinics. PromoCore enforces the fund's rules at each provider and settles each provider directly, so the fund sees exactly where its money went without running a claims back office.

Humanitarian assistance

A programme defines eligibility, amount, participating vendors, geography, duration, permitted categories and access channels. Beneficiaries receive value by SMS code, card or wristband and spend it with local vendors. Vendors are settled under the programme's rules, and every transaction is recorded for donor reporting.

Voice, ambient and machine-to-machine value are research directions and are covered separately in Section 17.

How PromoCore differs #

PromoCore is not a cryptocurrency, a token or a blockchain network, and it does not replace banks, card schemes or national payment systems. It sits above them as a value and orchestration layer.

Trust, governance and regulation #

Programmable value is only valuable if its rules are enforced and its records can be trusted. PromoCore's controls include:

• Account-scoped access. Every API call is authenticated against the issuer's own key; issuers cannot reach each other's value.
• Server-authoritative state. Uniqueness, expiry and balances are determined by PromoCore, not by the client.
• Credential binding. Value can be locked to a phone number, identity or physical credential so that a leaked code cannot be spent by someone else.
• Recorded lifecycle. Issuance, access and settlement are recorded against the issuing account for reconciliation and audit.
• Issuer controls. Issuers can update, suspend or retire value they have issued.

Regulatory position

PromoCore operates as a technology and orchestration layer. It does not replace national payment, identity or banking infrastructure, and settlement is executed over existing payment rails. Deployments are structured around the obligations that apply to the specific value, participants and market, including data protection under the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 and, where relevant, UK and EU GDPR.

Rules must be designed responsibly. Restricting how value can be used is a form of power over the holder, and programme designers should weigh beneficiary dignity and choice alongside control.

From payment infrastructure to value infrastructure #

Payment infrastructure asks one question: how does money move? Value infrastructure asks the rest.

Payment remains one mechanism for settling value. Digital Value describes the whole lifecycle around it. Just as APIs became the common mechanism for software interoperability, programmable value can become the common mechanism for value interoperability.

Future directions #

This section describes research directions. Where part of a direction is already in production, the text says so.

Because PromoCore separates value from interface, new interfaces can be added without changing the value model. Three directions follow from that.

• Voice. A driver or field worker whose hands are occupied says "use my mobility value." The infrastructure evaluates identity, balance, acceptor and rules exactly as it does for a scanned code.
• Ambient value. Part of this is in production: Pandley's preloaded wristband lets a holder use value with a single tap, with no phone, card or app. What remains ahead is value used with no conscious transaction step at all: a vehicle drawing on mobility value, a device on a service entitlement.
• Machine-to-machine value. Part of this is already in production: at Hospitality Business School, the school's systems issue and grant access to value through the PromoCore API in real time, with no person initiating each transaction. What remains ahead is machines as holders: vehicles, devices and software systems holding authorised allocations for specific purposes, governed by the same rules as human holders.

Conclusion #

Digital transformation changed money, commerce, identity and access. The next change is to value itself: representing it independently of any single application, interface or organisation, so it can be issued, governed, accessed and settled wherever it has meaning.

The value can change. The context can change. The interface can change. The infrastructure remains.

Glossary #

Cite and share #

Silas, Mekwuye. (2026). Digital Value: Infrastructure for issuing, governing, accessing and settling value across channels and organisations. Tiports PromoCore Foundation Paper, version 1.4. Tiports Limited. https://promocore.tiports.com/research/digital-value

Next in the series: Research 02, Beyond Issuer-Acquirer: The Issuceptor Model for Digital Value Networks.

About this paper

This paper sets out Tiports' technology and infrastructure thesis on Digital Value. Sections 11 and 12 describe capabilities in production. Near-term and emerging applications in Section 13 describe how the infrastructure can be configured; they are not claims that each is currently deployed. Section 17 describes research directions. Any implementation is subject to the technical, commercial, legal and regulatory requirements of its jurisdiction and use case.

Tiports Limited (RC 7772829) builds and operates PromoCore. Pandley Limited (RC 7210243) is a separate company that operates programmes on PromoCore.

The PDF edition (version 1.4) is the fixed record of this publication. This web edition may be updated; material changes will be released as a new version.

© 2026 Tiports Limited. This paper may be shared and redistributed in unmodified form with attribution. All other rights reserved.