EmCan × Emirates Skywards

Emirates Skywards was EmCan's second partner-loyalty integration, and unlike Blue Rewards it was a bidirectional exchange: members needed to convert loyalty points into Skywards miles and back. Skywards used email, not phone number, as its identifier, plus nationality and date of birth for verification, on a PWA login model — rules that were fixed and non-negotiable across its entire existing member base. Skywards also required users to add their debit card details on the Skywards app itself before linking could complete, a step entirely outside EmCan's product.

1. 01

   Split the ask

   Proposed asking for identity data in two moments instead of one: collect and confirm the user's email address during EmCan onboarding, before any Skywards linking attempt, so even users without the Skywards app had the right address on file early.

2. 02

   Keep it contextual

   Asked for nationality and date of birth — the two extra fields Skywards needed for verification — only when a user actually attempted to link accounts, instead of front-loading every field at once.

3. 03

   Ship the exchange

   Built the two-way conversion journey: a points/miles slider showing the live conversion rate, a confirmation step, and a success state.

4. 04

   Accept the trade-off

   EmCan had no way to add or manage the Skywards-required debit card — only to tell the user, after the fact, that their card wasn't linked yet. The right call, since Skywards' identity rules and card requirement applied to their whole existing base and weren't changeable; splitting the data ask across launch and link time was the one lever EmCan fully controlled.