ASCII startup Free app "Miles" that gives miles for every move landed in Japan

On October 20, 2021, the smartphone app "Miles", which allows you to accumulate miles for all movements such as walking, cycling, and trains, started. It is a service from the United States that uses a smartphone app to measure the user's transportation method and distance, and can exchange accumulated miles for rewards.In Japan, there are 108 rewards. Expectations are high for changes in consumer behavior.

"Miles" is a service launched in Silicon Valley in the United States, founded in 2016. The service started in 2019 and has reached 1.4 million registered users. So far, there are specifications of cumulative 5 billion miles, and it is said that the number of times redeemed for awards exceeds 11 million. This time, when launching in Japan, it is being developed with the full support of Scrum Studio, which is active for the purpose of creating new businesses handled by Scrum Ventures.

Miles Co-founder and CEO Jigar Shah

Japan is the first overseas expansion for Miles. We launched Miles Japan in 2021 and have been preparing for it. Jigar Shah, co-founder and CEO of Miles, who sent a video message, said, "Japanese people are highly conscious of well-being and have a high interest in point programs." said it was "natural". In addition, Mr. Shah was previously in charge of the connected car field at Cisco Systems, and felt the possibility of providing valuable services for mobility and started the company.

The business model adopts two performance-based business models: commissions earned from sales generated by users using benefits and commissions for customer referrals.

Miles Japan Representative Director and CEO Masami Takahashi

Mr. Masami Takahashi, who became CEO of Miles Japan, said that one of the changes in the market is the change in the flow of people, the second is the growing awareness of health, and the third is consideration for the environment. I made three points. Although travel has changed dramatically due to the corona crisis, these three changes are promoting travel such as walking, cycling, and running. At the same time, we also introduced data that ``people who travel for a long time and have a variety of trips feel happier than those who travel monotonously and short.''

What does the Miles app look like?

First of all, "Movement" covers all kinds of movement such as walking, running, and driving. "Both skis and boats," said Mr. The app is compatible with iOS and Android, and by turning on background updates (setting to always allow acquisition of location information), the proprietary AI will determine the means of transportation and will not open the app. Miles are automatically accrued.

Mileage scales differently depending on environmental impact: 0.1x for air, 1x for cars, 3x for public transportation such as buses and trains, 5x for bicycles, and 10x for walking and running. becomes. In addition, if you are carpooling with another Miles user, it will be automatically detected and the magnification will change to 2x. Because it is based on GPS location information, you can earn miles for traveling anywhere in the world, regardless of region.

In addition, the impact of using GPS on the battery is expected to be "about 1% per day". "We are trying to keep consumption down as much as possible. We are reducing it by improving hardware and devising software." Of course, the user can also turn it off.

Accumulated miles can be exchanged for rewards.At launch, there were 108 rewards from 83 companies.

There are three types of benefits: gift cards, discounts, lotteries, and donations. Gift cards and discounts are the most common. Therefore, JAL offers discounts for JALPAK (2,000 yen discount for JAL domestic dynamic packages per group), discounts for JAL ABC airport delivery services, and JAL Mileage Bank mileage gifts.

JAL Managing Executive Officer Digital Innovation Mr. Tomohiro Nishihata

JAL Managing Executive Officer Digital Innovation Tomohiro Nishihata, who participated in the presentation, said, "From the perspective of MaaS, we want to provide better services before, during, and after the trip." I explained and positioned the benefits as JALPAK before the trip, JAL ABC during the trip, and JAL Mileage Bank after the trip.

Miles is also a relationship invested through Jal Innovation Fund, a CVC (corporate venture capital) business. Also, "HAWAIICO" developed using Miles' SDK has been deployed. "I think the Miles technology, the tricks behind the scenes, the AI, etc. are great," Nishihata said.

Mr. Hikaru Adachi, Executive Director, CMO and General Manager of Marketing Division, FamilyMart

Family Mart offers a special offer where you can get blended coffee for 500 miles. Hikaru Adachi, the company's executive director, CMO and general manager of marketing division, said, "It's a wonderful service that adds new value to transportation that used to be just a cost," and said, "New value" and "FamilyMart shopping experience" commented that he expects two synergistic effects. “I hope that even people who have not used FamilyMart in their daily habits will add FamilyMart, saying, 'Let's go to FamilyMart because you can earn miles,'” he said.

Lottery is to get the right to participate in the lottery using the accumulated miles. Products such as free viewing of DAZN for 6 months, Hulu's prepaid code for 5 months, and one-on-one online greetings with Sanrio characters are available.

You can also donate your accumulated miles in two ways, either as Miles Japan or as a sponsor. Miles Japan can donate to Animal Donation, the Japanese Red Cross Society, and Save the Children, and as sponsors, Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance and Brother Industries will donate to environment-related activities.

As a unique thing, there is also a mechanism that gives benefits to those who clear the challenge of moving a certain number of times and distance as a "challenge" during a certain period. Red Bull, Under Armor and others are planning to roll out the challenge soon.

In addition to these, they also announced that they had signed an agreement with Shibuya Ward on the same day. We are planning to develop measures with the theme of making movement in Shibuya City healthy, and as the first step, we are thinking of giving bonus miles for picking up garbage.

Japan national team professional soccer player (FC Tokyo member) Yuto Nagatomo

At the end of the presentation, Yuto Nagatomo, a professional soccer player representing Japan (who belongs to FC Tokyo), made a video comment, saying, "Through Miles, more people will be able to move in a healthy way. As a result, I hope that even one more person will be able to live a more active life with a healthy mind and body." Nagatomo founded the wellbeing company Cuore.