If there’s one thing Tinder was missing, it’s of course some kind of unnecessary in-app economy. Well, good news: Now you can spend Tinder Bux on your ceaseless quest to get laid, so long as you’re in the land down under.
Bloomberg reported on Monday that Tinder will soon be testing in-app “coins” that users can accrue by maintaining an active dating profile or be purchased with actual money. Said coins can be spent on Boosts, which allow users to promote their profiles, or Super Likes, which allow users to send a notification to a potential match informing them they are particularly horny. Bloomberg didn’t mention what the coins will actually be called, but that Tinder plans to roll out the feature in Australia next month and globally at a later date.
Tinder runs on the freemium model, in which users have free access to the app outside of certain restrictions (such as limits on the number of swipes that can be performed in a 12-hour period) and can pay for a subscription to remove those barriers and gain access to other features. For example, Tinder has various tiers including Tinder Plus, Tinder Gold, and Tinder Platinum, the last of which runs up to $40 a month.
The introduction of an in-app coin system may be somewhat confusing, as Tinder already allows users to purchase Super Likes and Boosts using hard currency. Coins, though, offer fun gamified ways for users to lose track of exactly how much they are spending, as well as the opportunity to further monetize new features like its redesigned Explore menu, “Swipe Nights,” and the speed dating-esque “Hot Takes”.
Bloomberg wrote that Tinder and its owner Match Group hope for the coins to help “create a richer experience for people online, moving beyond just its traditional ‘swipe right’ method for finding a romantic partner.” Something tells us that the target market for Tinder micro-purchases is probably going to be power users with somewhat-less-sophisticated intentions.
Tinder Chief Financial Officer Gary Swidler said during a second-quarter earnings call that the average Tinder user’s “propensity to pay has improved significantly.” (This probably has everything to do with the surge in loneliness during the coronavirus pandemic, which also opened up opportunities for Tinder scammers.) He told the news agency in a statement that the coins “will play an important role as the Tinder experience evolves and becomes more immersive, because virtual currency is useful in the context of gifting digital goods.” Swidler added they expected particular success in Asia, where users are more used to in-app transactions than recurring subscriptions.
Tinder has rolled out other features in the past few years including ID verification and an in-app panic button, and it is reportedly looking into allowing users to run background checks. There’s no indication that Tinder’s coin system will have anything to do with cryptocurrency or the blockchain, and thank fucking god for that.