AirAsia’s loyalty program expands in deal with rewards startup ZAP

Photo credit: kentaroiemoto.

Tune Labs, the venture capital vehicle established by AirAsia founders Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun, has formed a joint venture with ZAP, a rewards startup in the Philippines.

ZAP runs a mobile number-based loyalty program that lets its members earn and redeem points from purchases at physical stores.

Through the tie-up, AirAsia BIG, the loyalty program of AirAsia and the Tune Group, will be able to allow its members to do the same.

From left to right: ZAP CEO Dustin Cheng, Tune Labs co-founder Tony Fernandes, and ZAP COO Terence Lok.

In a statement, ZAP said the partnership will launch in the third quarter, initially with over 100 partner merchants in Kuala Lumpur before expanding to other markets in Southeast Asia. Partners will include restaurants and retail stores.

Racking up points

Tech in Asia reached out to ZAP CEO Dustin Cheng for the financial terms of the deal, but he declined to disclose any specifics like the equity split. “Tune Labs is contributing capital and access to Tune Group assets, while ZAP is contributing its technology and expertise and will be leading the operations of the [joint venture],” he said.

ZAP is one of 26 startups funded by Kickstart Ventures.

Today, AirAsia BIG’s over 17 million members earn points from AirAsia, Tune Talk, Tune Hotels, and other strategic partners such as Bangkok Bank, CIMB Niaga, Lazada, Paradigm Mall, and KLIA2 Gateway. The joint venture essentially expands AirAsia BIG’s network of partners to include thousands of brick and mortar shops.

Members can redeem the points they earn for flights, while enjoying priority access to AirAsia seat sales.

For ZAP, it will “allow us to leverage on millions of AirAsia’s customers to fast-track [our] expansion through the region,” noted Dustin.

ZAP is one of 26 tech startups funded by Kickstart Ventures, the venture capital arm of Philippine telco Globe Telecom. The company caters to over 300,000 members and works with close to a thousand establishments within the Philippine capital.

Tune Labs funds and nurtures early-stage companies in the travel, finance, and retail sectors.