# Set up your loyalty program

> To set up a loyalty program in Velarya, work through its launch path in order: the Earning Rule and Sign-Up Bonus, then the Birthday Gift, on Rewards Program; check-in rewards and Refer a Friend on Challenges; then membership plans. Give your team their roles, and test everything with one patient before you announce it.

- Source: https://velarya.com/help/set-up-your-loyalty-program
- Who can do this: Admins. Each linked guide names the permission its step needs.
- Plans: Basic, Scale, Branded, Connected
- Time: 1 hour
- Last verified: 2026-10-01

## Before you begin

- Your treatments have prices in Organization settings > Service Catalog, because points, vouchers and member pricing are counted from them.
- Card payments are set up in Organization settings > Payments, so patients can pay and join memberships in the app.
- On the Branded and Connected plans, your own app is published under your practice's developer accounts: Setting up your Apple and Google developer accounts.

## Part 1: Set your points and rewards

Velarya's loyalty program starts with points on what patients spend, which every plan includes, and adds gifts when patients join and on their birthday and points for checking in, which Scale, Branded and Connected include. If you are on Basic, set the Earning Rule in step 1 and skip the rest of Part 1. All three live under **Client Experience** in **Organization settings**, which you open from the menu at the bottom of the left sidebar. When you change a field, an **Unsaved changes** bar appears at the top of the page; select **Save** there. The **Sign-Up Bonus** switch, and a challenge's switch once its reward is saved, take effect as soon as you flip them.

1. Open **Rewards Program**. Decide how much back each $1.00 earns in **Earning Rule** (100 points are $1.00 of wallet credit, so 5 points per $1 is 5% back) and what a new patient gets from the **Sign-Up Bonus**. [Set up points earning](https://velarya.com/help/set-up-points-earning) walks both.

![Organization Settings with Rewards Program selected, showing the Earning Rule and the Sign-Up Bonus](https://velarya.com/assets/help/set-up-your-loyalty-program/launch-rewards-program-e95d97ef.webp)

2. Scroll to **Birthday Gift** on the same page. Decide the gift (a discount, a free service or points) and the **Eligible audience**. See [Set up a birthday gift](https://velarya.com/help/set-up-birthday-gift).
3. Open **Challenges** and turn on **Check-In**. Decide the points each check-in earns and how often one patient can earn them. See [Set up check-in rewards](https://velarya.com/help/set-up-check-in-rewards).

## Part 2: Add referrals and memberships

Referral rewards and paid memberships are on every plan, including Basic. Add them once the rewards in Part 1 are saved, because a member's points rate starts from your Earning Rule.

1. Turn on **Refer a Friend** on **Challenges**. Decide what the friend and the referring patient each receive, whether the friend must spend or buy something first, and whether your team approves each referral. See [Set up referral rewards](https://velarya.com/help/set-up-referral-rewards).

![Challenges page with the Refer a Friend switch outlined, above Reward for the new customer and Reward for the referrer](https://velarya.com/assets/help/set-up-your-loyalty-program/launch-refer-a-friend-1de95d61.webp)

2. Open **Memberships** and select **Add plan**. Decide the price, how often it bills and what members receive each cycle. See [Create a membership plan](https://velarya.com/help/create-a-membership-plan).

## Part 3: Get your app and your team ready

Your patients meet the Velarya loyalty program in the patient app, and your team runs it from the dashboard, so both need a few minutes before launch day.

1. Open **Business & App** and set your **Brand Colour**, **About Us** and **App Icon**. See [Brand your patient app](https://velarya.com/help/brand-your-patient-app).
2. Open **Staff Directory**, select each staff member and choose their **Role**. Decide who checks patients in, who adjusts points and who changes the rules, using the table under "Who on your team needs which permission?" below. See [Loyalty roles and permissions](https://velarya.com/help/loyalty-roles-and-permissions).

![Staff Directory profile on the Overview tab, with the Role field outlined and set to Front Desk](https://velarya.com/assets/help/set-up-your-loyalty-program/launch-staff-role-7947da74.webp)

3. Select **Manage** in the left sidebar, then **Memberships**, and decide which plans each location sells. With more than one location, choose the next one in the location menu beside **Location Settings**. See [How loyalty works across locations](https://velarya.com/help/loyalty-across-locations).

## Part 4: Test it with one patient

A test run with one patient shows every part of your Velarya loyalty program working together before you tell anyone. A staff login and a patient account are separate in Velarya, so a team member can use their own phone.

On Basic, which has no sign-up bonus or check-ins, skip steps 2 to 5: your first points arrive with the first paid visit in step 7.

1. Download the Velarya app, sign up with your phone number, and find your practice by name or ZIP code under **Let's find your practice!** On the Branded and Connected plans, sign up in your own app instead.
2. Open the **Home** tab. A points sign-up bonus shows on your points balance, with its **rewards value** in dollars.
3. In the dashboard, open **Rewards Program** and scroll to **Point Ledger**. A points sign-up bonus is the newest row. It belongs to the whole practice, so it appears whichever location the ledger shows.

![Point Ledger with its location menu outlined and set to Union Square, above the Time, Client, Action and Points columns](https://velarya.com/assets/help/set-up-your-loyalty-program/launch-point-ledger-e51e43df.webp)

4. On **Front Desk**, select the QR code icon (**Scan QR code**) and scan the code the app shows when you tap **Check In** on the check-in challenge. Select **Check in** followed by the patient's name. The check-in points are added, and the check-in appears under **Rewards** > **Check-Ins**.
5. In the app, open the **Rewards** tab. Your balance includes the check-in points, and **Challenges** lists the check-in challenge, plus Refer a Friend if you turned it on.
6. Delete the test patient in **Clients** when the test is done, as [Update, archive or delete a patient](https://velarya.com/help/update-archive-or-delete-a-patient) shows. Their Point Ledger rows and check-in go with the profile.
7. After your first paid visits, check the **Point Ledger** again. Each award for a sale links to its order, so you can confirm the points match your **Earning Rule**.

## What do patients see first?

Patients meet each part of the Velarya loyalty program in the patient app. This table lists what a patient notices first once you turn each one on.

| Part of the program | What patients see first |
|---|---|
| **Earning Rule** | Their points balance on **Home** and **Rewards**, with its rewards value in dollars and **Redeem** to turn points into wallet credit |
| **Sign-Up Bonus** | Their bonus as soon as they join, named on the last sign-up screen under **Reward Unlocked** |
| **Birthday Gift** | "When's your birthday?" during sign-up (optional), then a **Happy birthday! 🎂** notification on the day |
| **Check-In** | A check-in card under **Challenges** on the **Rewards** tab, which opens with **Check In** to show their code |
| **Refer a Friend** | A referral card under **Challenges**, which opens with **Invite A Friend** to show their code and share it |
| A membership plan | **Unlock member perks!** on **Home** for patients who are not members, with **See Memberships** |
| **Brand Colour** and **About Us** | The app in your color, with your About Us text under **About** on **Home** |

The **Birthday Gift** reaches patients in your **Eligible audience** who use the patient app and have a date of birth on file. Until a challenge is live, the **Challenges** section of the **Rewards** tab reads "No challenges available right now. Check back soon."

## Which settings apply to every location?

Velarya's loyalty rules are set once and apply at every location, and each patient keeps one points balance and one wallet across all of them. A few choices are made per location.

| Setting | Where | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| **Earning Rule**, **Sign-Up Bonus**, **Birthday Gift** | **Rewards Program** | Your whole practice |
| **Check-In**, **Refer a Friend** | **Challenges** | Your whole practice |
| Membership plans | **Memberships** | Built once for your practice |
| **Brand Colour**, **About Us**, **App Icon** | **Business & App** | Your whole practice |
| The plans a location sells | **Manage** > **Memberships** | Each location |

Points are counted on the price the patient pays at the location they visit. For everything that follows a patient between locations, see [How loyalty works across locations](https://velarya.com/help/loyalty-across-locations).

## Who on your team needs which permission?

Three of Velarya's four system roles run a loyalty program day to day: Front Desk checks patients in and rings up sales, Location Managers also adjust points and run challenges, and Admins change the program's rules.

| Day-to-day task | Permission | Held by default by |
|---|---|---|
| Check a patient in with their QR code | **Check-in & scanning** | Admin, Location Manager, Front Desk |
| See a patient's points and wallet credit | **Wallet, points & credits** at **view** | Admin, Location Manager, Front Desk |
| Ring up a sale that earns points | **Transactions / orders** at **edit** | Admin, Location Manager, Front Desk |
| Add or remove a patient's points | **Wallet, points & credits** at **adjust** | Admin, Location Manager |
| Sell a membership at the desk | **Member lifecycle (pause/resume/cancel/change-tier)** at **manage** | Admin, Location Manager |
| Follow **Rewards** > **Check-Ins** and **Referrals** | **Challenges (check-in/referral)** at **view** | Admin, Location Manager |
| Change check-in and referral rewards | **Challenges (check-in/referral)** at **edit** | Admin, Location Manager |
| Approve or reject referrals, with **Approve referrals** set to **Manually** | **Challenges (check-in/referral)** at **moderate** | Admin |
| See points awarded and redeemed in the **Point Ledger** | **Rewards & loyalty program** at **view** | Admin, Location Manager |
| Change the Earning Rule, Sign-Up Bonus or Birthday Gift | **Rewards & loyalty program** at **edit** | Admin |
| Build or change membership plans | **Membership plan definitions** at **edit** | Admin |

## If something goes wrong in the first week

**Patients see "No challenges available right now. Check back soon."** No challenge is live yet. Turn on **Check-In** with a **Reward** above 0, or **Refer a Friend** with a **Reward for the new customer**, on **Challenges** and select **Save**. Refer a Friend also leaves the app once its **Campaign end date** passes. Patients see a live challenge the next time they open **Rewards**.

**Patients earn no points on their visits.** The **Earning Rule** starts at 0, so enter a rate and save. Points arrive once a sale with a treatment on it is paid in full and belongs to the patient, as [How points work](https://velarya.com/help/how-points-work) explains.

**A patient who joined this week has no sign-up bonus.** Check that the **Sign-Up Bonus** switch is on with a value above 0; a **Voucher** bonus also needs a service. Patients who joined before you turned it on do not receive it. A patient you added at the front desk receives it when they sign up in the app with the same phone number or email.

**The Point Ledger is missing a check-in or a sale.** The ledger starts on the location you are working in. Choose the other location in its location menu, or **All locations** as an Admin.

**The QR code icon on Front Desk is grayed out.** The staff member's role lacks **Check-in & scanning**. Give them the Front Desk role, or turn the permission on for their role.

**Rewards is missing from a staff member's sidebar.** **Rewards** > **Check-Ins** and **Referrals** need **Challenges (check-in/referral)** at **view**, which Admins and Location Managers hold.

**Patients can't find your membership plan in the app.** Open the plan in **Memberships** and check that **Status** is **Active** and **Visibility** is **Public**, then check that the location the patient chose sells it.

**A patient you added at the front desk gets no texts.** Patients added by staff start with SMS off until they agree to texts. Once they do, turn on **SMS Notifications** in **Edit client details** on their profile.

## Frequently asked questions

### How long does it take to launch a loyalty program in Velarya?

About an hour of settings, working through the linked guides in order, plus a few minutes to test with one patient. Patients can join in the Velarya app, which every plan includes, as soon as you finish. On the Branded and Connected plans, your own app goes live once Apple and Google approve your developer accounts and it is published under them.

### Can I launch with points first and add referrals and memberships later?

Yes. Each reward in Velarya's launch path works on its own, so you can open with points, a sign-up bonus, a birthday gift and check-in rewards, then add Refer a Friend and membership plans in a later week. A new challenge appears on the Rewards tab of the patient app the next time patients open it, and a new plan appears under Memberships.

### Which Velarya plans include referrals and memberships?

Points on treatment spend, referral rewards for both people and paid memberships are on every plan, including Basic. The sign-up bonus, the birthday gift and check-in rewards are on Scale, Branded and Connected. Your own app, listed under your practice's name, is on Branded and Connected, and every plan includes the Velarya app.

### What should my front desk know on launch day?

Three things. A patient's Rewards and Wallet balances are on their profile in Clients. Every treatment a patient pays for earns points at your Earning Rule, or at their plan's member rate when it is higher. On Scale, Branded and Connected, check each patient in by selecting the QR code icon (Scan QR code) on Front Desk and scanning the code in their app. Front Desk can do all three; adjusting points needs a Location Manager or Admin.

### Can a staff member test the program as a patient?

Yes. In Velarya, a staff login and a patient account are separate even when they share a phone number, so a team member can join your practice in the patient app with their own phone. They receive the sign-up bonus like any new patient, which lets you check the bonus, a check-in and the Point Ledger end to end before you tell patients.