How an airline's app is turning loyalty into currency - Udhara de Silva (Singapore Airlines)

Udhara de Silva, who leads loyalty marketing for Singapore Airlines in Australia, walks through the launch and rapid growth of Kris+, the digital rewards app that enables members to earn and spend miles in restaurants and retail stores – a first for any airline rewards app outside of Singapore. The discussion tracks why Australia was chosen as the testbed, the challenges of localizing a QR-based payment app in a card-centric market, and the dual work of building merchant trust and user habits from zero. Udhara details what drives engagement, how to “double dip” on points, and why genuine merchant partnerships matter more than technical bells and whistles. Listeners get insight into evolving loyalty marketing tactics, campaign strategies, and the real mechanics of building an airline’s everyday brand.

Questions Udhara answered in this episode:

• Why did Singapore Airlines expand Kris+ to Australia first?
• What unique challenges come with launching a QR code–based payment app in Australia?
• How do you pitch and onboard merchants before an app is live?
• What technical features make Kris+ easy for partners to adopt?
• What’s different about marketing an airline app versus a retail loyalty app?
• What tactics actually drive repeated use and engagement?
• What does merchant “densification” mean, and why is it critical?
• How does Kris+ expand the loyalty audience beyond high-income credit card holders?
• What’s next for Kris+ in Australia and globally?

Timestamp:

2:00 – Scope of KrisFlyer: Australia’s place in the global member base
3:00 – The origins and purpose of Kris+
5:30 – How Kris+ works: earning, spending, “double-dipping” on miles
6:00 – Selecting Australia: market sophistication and loyalty culture
9:00 – Pitching and onboarding merchants, early business development
12:10 – Overcoming the QR code adoption barrier
15:10 – Building merchant trust with low technical overhead
16:00 – Tactics for engagement: push notifications, highlight tiles, gamified challenges
17:00 - Kris+ challenges
18:00 – Advice for marketers launching in new regions
20:00 – The future: merchant densification, market expansion, next steps

Quotes:

(3:30) “It’s a custom-built app. You scan a QR code, enter the amount, and you get to decide whether you want to either spend your miles that you might have earned from a flight, or you can pay with Apple or Google Pay, and then you earn miles on that transaction. You’re double dipping.” 

(13:00) “There are certain high-volume merchants where they have started educating and frontliners have started educating partners. But it's a combination of factors, I think. We're very mindful of the fact that QR codes aren't mainstream yet, and so it's a bit of a slow burn.”  

(14:10) “Tailoring the message to the Australian voice, the Australian landscape, the whole lack of familiarity with QR codes — that was something we had to really learn from the ground up.” 

Mentioned in this episode:

• Udhara de Silva’s LinkedIn
• Kris+ (Singapore Airlines digital rewards app)
• KrisFlyer frequent flyer program
• Contact for merchant/partner queries: krisplusau@singaporeair.com.sg
• Brunetti (Melbourne café, case study for merchant adoption)