Lyoness (alternatively known as Cashback World) has introduced an innovative way of earning money online, but before you dive in & sign up you need to make sure you know how it works and whether it’s actually a pyramid scheme or not. Lyoness has attracted thousands across the globe by offering rewards against loyalty shopping membership… But it’s business model can seem pretty questionable.
The reason for that is because Lyoness also offers lucrative returns against successful recruitments & this is what has got many people talking about it potentially simply being a pyramid scheme. Obviously though before we can conclude if the Lyoness pyramid scheme rumours are true we’ll have to consider a number of factors…
Even if Lyoness is not a pyramid scheme, you must analyse various aspects to ensure if you can generate enough income through this platform to make it worth your while & that’s exactly why I’ve decided to put together this fact-based Lyoness review, to help you see if it’s legit & right for you.
What Is Lyoness? | How Does Lyoness Work? | Is Lyoness a Pyramid Scheme? | Is Lyoness a Scam? | A Better Alternative
What Is Lyoness?
Cashback World (Lyoness) is primarily a platform which makes online partnerships with various merchants. This website attempts to refer visitors to their partner’s products. When a Lyoness visitor confirms a purchase, then Cashback World rewards you. Lyoness itself receives certain percentage from the corresponding merchant.
Lyoness Cash Back
One thing which I don’t like about Lyoness is the misleading claim that the buyer receives 5% cashback. After going through all the calculations during my research, I realized that the actual cash back amount generally doesn’t exceed 2%.
The Lyoness homepage claims the company’s partnership with 90k + merchants across the globe & aside from the website you can also use Lyoness Cash Back by downloading their mobile application. You’ll get a Lyoness Cash Back Card to receive discounts on your shopping.
Lyoness Shopping Points
This is another variation of Lyoness rewards. The Shopping Points are convertible into cash. As far as the legitimacy is concerned, most of the cashback platforms are real and they do offer discounts. And there is a logic behind this practice. The platform brings customers to the merchants and there is nothing strange if the merchant offers discounts, it happens all over the world and it is a conventional practice.
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How Does Lyoness Work?
Just like Avisae, Lyoness also encourages its members to recruit more and more people. So in addition to cash back, you also have the opportunity to benefit from promotional activities. The whole plan is actually a bit confusing and you’ll have a better idea by downloading the official Lyoness information.
- Loyalty Cash
Your performance as a recruiter is measured in terms of accounting units. After reaching a certain level i.e. 35 accounting units, you’ll become eligible to receive Loyalty Cash. One accounting unit equals $75. So 35 accounting units mean that you’ll become a veteran recruiter if you manage to somehow reach this level.
- Friendship Bonus
With the friendship bonus, you’ll earn 0.5% of what your friends (someone whom you recruited) or an indirect friend (someone recruited by your friend) gets as cashback. Someone whom you recruited – friend – or by someone recruited by your friend i.e. indirect friend.
- Volume Commission
Volume refers to the size the pyramid (referral chain). Envision a family tree, same concept applies here! Bigger volume earns you higher rankings and contributes to profile as Career Level.
- Loyalty Partner Bonus
This bonus follows two-level structure. You get primary bonus from direct recruits i.e. 18.75% and secondary bonus from the indirect recruit i.e. 6.25%.
All these bonuses are actually focused on bringing in more and more people as Lyoness members. Now the question is, can well call Lyoness a pyramid scheme? Before making a sweeping statement I think it is better to briefly discuss the matter…
Is Lyoness Really a Pyramid Scheme?
We can’t easily take a definite position when defining whether a platform is pyramid scheme or otherwise. Offering compensations against recruitments alone doesn’t class Lyoness as a pyramid scheme. We need to judge the intensity of the focus. If the focus is more on sales side then it is not a pyramid scheme. If the focus is primarily on recruitments then you call it a pyramid scheme.
The definition also varies from state to state depending on local laws. If we consider the legalities, yes, Lyoness could potentially be a pyramid scheme! The reason is that the website has been branded in Norway as a pyramid scheme. But the question is, with the passage of time the website has gone global and is operating legally in various countries.
Taking a look at the website itself is suggestive of the fact that the whole thing is more focused around recruiting. After considering these aspects I believe that in my opinion Lyoness is potentially a pyramid scheme.
If you are willing to join Lyoness then you need to know that Lyoness serves two types, the promoters, and the members. After going through different promotion plans, bonuses and incentives, it seems as if there is a huge potential for anyone who joins Lyoness and brings in more people. The truth is, not everyone succeeds in attaining the desired career level. A marginal percentage of Lyoness’ members have ever managed to generate the handsome amounts that are boasted about.
Statistics reveal that 97% of Lyoness members feature an average yearly income of $72. Only three percent of its members manage to earn over $72/year. Now the decision is yours!
Is Lyoness a Scam?
Lyoness is technically a legitimate platform but there is not enough margin for the members to make a solid income without putting in an extremely large amount of work… Moreover, due to the type of business model (with it being MLM) you need to spend a lot of time convincing your friends to join the platform in order to make money… Therefore in my opinion the return isn’t really worth your time and effort!
So personally I am not going to be recommending Lyoness to you because honestly I don’t think you’ll find much value from it. The likelihood is that instead of making money you’ll probably just find yourself spending money instead…
The good news though is that if you are still looking to make money online then there are legitimate programs out there that you can do so with, such as Commission Academy for example which is one of my all-time top rated programs.
Anyway, hopefully this review provided you with the insight into Lyoness that you were looking for & hopefully it gave you a better idea as to how it all really works. If you do still happen to have any further questions or comments though then don’t hesitate to leave them below & I’ll get back back to you as soon as I can.
A Better Alternative
The sad truth is that unfortunately most of the programs promising to help you make money online are scams. I can say that confidently after exposing over 500+ of them here on this blog.
But the good news is that even though most of them are indeed scams, there are actually some very good programs in amongst them - some programs that can truly help you to earn money.
And out of all of the legit programs I've seen, the one I would recommend the most to anybody looking to get started online is Commission Academy. In my own opinion, that's the best place to start.
At Commission Academy, you'll be provided with everything you need (including the training & tools) to begin earning real money by promoting products or services for companies like Amazon online.
The best part is that there's literally no limit on the amount you can earn with it & the process is pretty simple which means that it's absolutely perfect for people that don't have much experience.
Some wealthy affiliates even earn as much as 5-figures per month... Or more!
I mean don't get me wrong, that kind of money won't just fall into your lap without doing any work... But the harder you're willing to work at it, the more you stand to earn with it.
So if you're looking to get started but don't know which route you should go down or which program you should join (and don't want to waste money on bogus things that don't actually work), then I'd highly recommend checking out Commission Academy first. You can learn more about it here.
Hello Dale
Thanks for sharing this, I got this offer recently & I need to know if there is anything like purchasing a cloud of shopping points?
Hi Esha, thanks for your comment – but sadly I’m not too sure what you mean by a cloud of shopping points? As far as I’m aware there’s nothing like that available anyway.
Also, do you mean that when i recruit a friend and my friend recruits someone than i earn 0.5% + 0.5%
Yep that’s correct, so you refer somebody & you’ll earn 0.5% on their shopping, then you’ll also earn an additional 0.5% on the shopping done by anybody they refer too. ?
One question please. So, you are saying that Lyoness is a pyramid scheme because they recruit people but on the other hand you are recruiting people to buy wealthy affiliate membership. How do you call that?
Good question Danijel! There’s actually a very big difference between how Lyoness & Wealthy Affiliate work. Wealthy Affiliate provides a training program (along with various tools) to help people build a successful online affiliate marketing business. Alongside that they also offer the opportunity for you to share it with others & earn a commission if anybody decides to opt for the paid membership as opposed to the free one – but that’s it, the compensation ends there. When it comes to Lyoness however, things work on multiple levels (picture a pyramid shape) and so if you refer one person & they refer somebody else, money is passed between all these people – and it continues throughout several levels.
If there is a genuine product in place & the majority of the business’s revenue is generated from retail product sales as opposed to recruiting then as opposed to a pyramid scheme it may be classed as a legal multi-level-marketing program (see my guide pyramid scheme vs MLM) but if the focus is more towards recruiting then it is likely an illegal pyramid scheme. In the instance of Lyoness in my opinion the focus is on recruiting, and that is likely why in Norway the regulatory authorities themselves have actually branded Lyoness a pyramid scheme & banned it within their country.
Regardless though I think the important point to note from my review here is that “Only three percent of Lyoness members manage to earn over $72/year” – so personally I wouldn’t even bother wasting my time with it. Hope that answers your question though – don’t hesitate to ask if you have any more. ?
Hi there,
I was planning to read the whole article, however, as I was scrolling down to pass your pyramid advertising I got to the messages. I can tell right the way that you have wrong information.
Not everyone can earn the 0.5% Friendship Bonus(FB). If you are a Marketer then you can earn in different levels, if you are a shopper(free membership) you do not receive the FB.
As an advisor to a different company I was required to place a specific $ amount every three months in order in order to keep my status. As a consultant to Avon(not me) you have to place an order every month to keep status.
There’s always people who get in a program and abused it. That’s why you receive the wrong information
As you scrolled to pass “my pyramid advertising”? I have no idea what you mean by that. Anyway with that aside, I think the statement in my conclusion which reads “Lyoness is technically a legitimate platform but there is not enough margin for the members to make a solid income without putting in an extremely large amount of work” sums up the company extremely well, regardless as to the ins-and-outs of bonuses etc. In my opinion there are simply MUCH better ways to make good money online.
Hi, is there anywhere we a complain to ? Try and recover some money some how. I was promised the world and invested £20k for a passive income – duped into it.
Based in the uk. I don’t see anywhere for UK people to sign petitions or anything?
Hi Verinder, I’m sorry to hear that you have lost so much money to Lyoness, but I am glad that you have shared your experience because as you can see from the comments above there are many people (likely those promoting it) still trying to defend it. Finally a real experience that tells the truth to back up my suspicions. With regards to recovering funds, I would first talk to Lyoness & let them know that you intend on taking action – then try your card issuer to see if there is anything they can do.
Dude.. im not affiliated with the company. But i have friends who are. Not only are they not named lyoness anymore, Its MyWorld. You say there are no such things as clouds and other revenue streams. Stop spreading misinformation to people. This information is avaliable on the internet. I imagine you have watched a youtubevideo on the subject by someone who has done as little research as you. The dangerous part of this profession is people who join dont read rhe compensasionplan and some get persuaded by a friend or family member and they dont taje the time to find out what the company is actually doing. They read one negative article and they jump off. A big business will allways have people working against them. First they are ridiculed, 2nd. at the peak there are people actively working against them, 3rd. They are accepted. Myworld now runs over 120 companies and have some really cool projects coming up. Dale. I hioe sincerely that you can think about this in the future. You are running a business site and your job is to create understanding and safety for entrepreneurship.
Firstly, I think the fact that you are not willing to put your name behind your comment speaks volumes on its own. Secondly, the fact that they have changed their name in an attempt to escape the negative press also speaks volumes about the company… And thirdly, I must ask that if what you say about Lyoness/MyWorld is true, then why are many countries (Italy the latest) banning it entirely? Seems a strange move for countries to light-heartedly make…
can i get some sources about italy banning it entirely please
Certainly – take a look at this Wikipedia article and you’ll see it states that in January 2019 Italy’s Competition Authority ruled that Lyoness was an unfair and deceptive commercial practice that constitutes a pyramid scheme and that it now prohibits its dissemination and continuation.
Do your homework people! The Cloud is amazing! I PERSONALLY know quite a few people that are making more money by using the Cashback loyalty card than their actual monthly income 😁 Doesnt always pay to just hear one opinion of an MLM Company. I’ve had my business just shy of 5 years & its thriving.
It’s not just “my opinion” any more though… As I mentioned in another comment on here Italy’s Competition Authority ruled that Lyoness was an unfair and deceptive commercial practice that constitutes a pyramid scheme & several other countries regulatory bodies have come to similar verdicts.