Citi cardholders do the ‘wave’ at Mercury Drug

In line with the promise of its founder, Mariano Que, “to have what you want, where you want it, when you want it and how you want it,” Mercury Drug is strongly committed as ever to serve the needs of every Filipino -- from the time it opened its first store at Bambang St., Sta. Cruz, Manila in 1945.

Over the years, Mercury Drug has evolved from a conventional drugstore to a modern one-stop drugstore where its regular customers can shop not only for quality-assured medicines but also for other health and personal care products and a wide array of grocery items at their own convenience. Apart from offering a wide range of fresh, safe and high-quality branded or generic medicines, Mercury Drug has revolutionized the way it serves its customers.

Through Gamot Padala, customers are served in different convenient ways. Orders placed at their nearest Mercury Drug store can be served to a designated beneficiary at any Mercury Drug store nationwide. There is also the Call Order Pick-up service, where a customer phones in the order and arranges its pick-up or delivery at a convenient time. Orders can also be processed electronically thru Online Order at its web site. And for customers who are in a hurry or who have mobility problems, Mercury Drug has a drive-thru service at its Ortigas Ave., Greenhills, San Juan store.

“We really go out of our way to serve our customers. Medicine saves lives and we’re here to hand it out to our customers in the safest and best way possible,” said Avelina Bobadilla, VP for Operations of Mercury Drug. “If the medicine you’re looking for is not available at the Mercury Drug store you visit, our personnel will be glad to assist in looking for it in our other stores.”

More than 100 stores are open 24/7 in strategic locations. Mercury Drug also offers in-store pharmacy counselling and mercuryTV health education service in all its more than 900 branches nationwide.

“We also have rewards and rebates through our customer value cards: Suki Card and the Mercury Drug Citi credit card,” enthused Bobadilla.

Just tap and go

In line with its commitment to provide total customer satisfaction, Mercury Drug recently partnered anew with Citi, the leading credit card brand and largest foreign bank in the country, to deliver payment convenience and rewards to its valued clients through the Citi Visa payWave credit card.

Citi is driving contactless payments in the Philippines with the issuance of the country’s first payWave credit card, which makes everyday purchases -- in Mercury Drug stores, supermarkets, coffee shops, fast food chains, even in cinemas -- a walk in the park.

At select Mercury Drug stores, all you have to do when purchasing your merchandise at the self service section, is to pay for it by just tapping your Citi Visa payWave credit card over the card reader, grab your purchases and go. No swiping, no signing for purchases below P2,000 or entering your PIN. Citi Visa payWave transactions can be up to three times faster than cash payments, reducing queuing times for both cardholders and retailers.

Mercury Drug President Vivian Que Azcona adds that “Mercury Drug is pleased to partner with Citi as it affords our clients the opportunity to sample a technology that will make it so much faster to complete their purchase. I encourage our clients to start using Mercury Drug Citi Visa payWave credit cards so they can experience this fun and new way to pay.”

The best part is there’s no minimum purchase required. With Citi payWave, you don’t have to fumble through your wallets for small bills and coins to pay for small ticket items like a tablet of aspirin or a bar of chocolate at Mercury Drug. It’s like always having the exact amount in your pocket to pay for the goods.

Bobadilla adds, “Also, our customers are assured and secured of the use of their credit card as they will be the one to tap the card. Right now, we have 116 branches that offer the Citi contactless payment technology and hopefully by the end of the year, all our other branches will be using the system.”

It’s all in the Citi

Acknowledged as a leader in digital banking, Citi spends a great deal of its resources listening to their clients, giving them what they want, and more importantly, anticipating their needs.

Citi Philippines CEO Batara Sianturi is confident the new technology will be embraced by their clients.

“This payment technology has been gaining wide acceptance among Asian consumers, to pay for everyday, small purchases.  In the Philippines, our consumers have always shown great interest in trying new technology and quickly adopt them. What we also did was look into where our customers shop. From there, we built a merchant ecosystem to allow our customers to enjoy this particular technology in more merchants across the nation.”

“We understand our customers and know the demands of their time and how their lifestyles are changing. Our latest innovation – the Citi Visa payWave -- will empower our clients to access the latest technology in credit card payments all while enjoying best in class rewards that they can only have with Citibank credit cards. It’s a tremendous step forward in transforming the Philippines into a modern, cashless society,” explained Bea Tan, Citi Consumer Business Manager. .

For more than two decades now, Citi has consistently raised the bar in the credit card industry by bringing to Philippine shores the latest in technology and one innovation after the other. And yes, the Visa payWave is another exciting innovation to Citi’s more than one million cardholders in the country.

The Citi Visa payWave credit card can also be enjoyed at Robinsons Supermarket Express Lanes, Eastwood and Lucky Chinatown Cinemas, and The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Later this year, cardholders can use the technology at Rustan’s Supermarkets, McDonald’s and Newport Cinemas.

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All new applicants for select Citi Visa credit cards will get a payWave -enabled card when their applications are approved. Existing cardholders will get theirs when their card is renewed, or they can apply for it now by calling CitiPhone at 995-9999. Replacement is free until December 2013.