Beenz.com to Close Next Week
Online currency and loyalty provider beenz.com will discontinue operations Aug. 26.The announcement was made yesterday in a note posted on its Web site that said "Pursuant to the Terms and Conditions-Membership Agreement of beenz.com, the operation of the beenz economy will be terminated at 12:01 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time-EST) on August 26, 2001," the note read. "No beenz earning or spending transactions will be honored after that date and time."
Any beenz currency in members' accounts after that date will be worthless, the note said.
The development follows similar news about beenz.com's online payment rival Flooz.com, which reportedly is in merger talks with an unidentified company. Flooz.com shut its Web site Aug. 13 and told retailers to stop accepting Flooz as payment.
An e-mail sent to Flooz.com partner sites said that the company was talking with possible partners and hoped to be back online soon. Flooz would not identify the companies it was talking with or say when operations might resume.
As for beenz.com, it had been denying rumors of its imminent demise for months. In December, it laid off 28 employees in its New York and San Francisco offices. The company had offices in the United States, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong. In March, beenz let go 180 employees, reducing its global work force to about 60 from its peak of 265. The company plans to close its London office at the end of August but will keep its New York office open to try to sell its software and computers.
