Singapore Airlines says it has been putting measures in place to enable it use blockchain technology to give its flyers a new way to spend their accumulated miles.

The company said a digital wallet app for its KrisFlyer loyalty program would be launched in about six months.

It said it would start by signing up retail partners in the Singapore market.

Chief Executive Goh Choon Phong said, their company will be the first airline to embark on such an initiative.

Singapore Airlines last month said it will invest “hundreds of millions” of dollars in digital technology over several years as part of a broader transformation designed to remain competitive against global rivals.

The Singapore Airlines technology is its own private blockchain involving only merchants and partners.

Blockchain however, functions as an online record-keeping system or digital ledger maintained by a random group of peers rather than any central agency or authority.

While best known for underpinning bitcoin and other alternative currencies, blockchain holds promise for changing how transactions are handled in many industries.