Yesterday, BMW Korea announced a blockchain based rewards program called BMW Vantage. The company is currently recruiting customers for a trial to gain feedback.
BMW Vantage will be formally launched later this year and is a membership program that will provide services such as collecting reward points as coins and using them for payments and discounts. It will enable customers to use services across different sectors, such as mobility, travel, culture, and education through affiliates.
Korea will be the first launch country and thereafter, it will be rolled out globally.
The auto company is offering the membership service to new as well as existing customers. When a customer buys a BMW vehicle, they can register on the BMW Vantage mobile app and collect BMW Points, which can be used to get a discount on vehicle maintenance, or order an airport pickup service, towards the purchase a new vehicle, gifts or vouchers.
The user can also earn BMW Points through games and payments. The company has contacted existing customers who bought a vehicle in the past three years. The first 1,000 customers who register will receive 30,000 coins via the app.
“Through this open platform, BMW Korea plans to provide various services to experience BMW in daily life, increase contact points with consumers, and continue to communicate sincerely with customers,” the automaker said in its announcement.
BMW has a handful of blockchain projects. It is a founding member of the MOBI consortium and is developing vehicle identity standards with Ford, GM, Honda, and others. Previously, it partnered with VeChain to build a blockchain-based used car mileage app.
More recently, it unveiled the PartChain project to use blockchain for traceability of components. DHL and BMW ran a blockchain trial for supply chain operations in the Asia Pacific.
Blockchain for reward programs has been explored globally. Social media platform Reddit recently launched its blockchain-based community points system.
Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Air Asia are among the few who implemented blockchain for loyalty programs.
In South Korea, travel firm Yonalja integrated the MiL.k rewards platform.
