Shopping & movies for free

Citibank recently launched its new core card, the Citibank Rewards Card, in an event that was attended by an audience of shoppers and movie buffs. The card was designed specifically for a market segment that wants instant rewards rather than waiting for their points to accumulate and then redeeming products, gift certificates or miles.  

The card is the latest addition to Citi’s wide portfolio of core and co-branded cards — and is quite different in both its physical appearance and its loyalty program.

It is the most colorful Citi card in the Philippines with a design that reminds one of the Tourism Department’s “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” campaign, the bottom of the card resembling the Philippine map made of colorful banig.

Its three main benefits are free movie passes, shopping rebates and annual fee waivers. With Citi’s technology, consumers can redeem their rewards easily — no more vouchers, charge slips or forms to fill out. They just need to present their credit card at the partner merchants and claim their treats.

Citi country officer for the Philippines Sanjiv Vohra says, “Citibank has been a pioneer in the rewards arena since we issued our first plastic, and we are all excited to be raising the bar anew in the industry with this new card — for the benefit of the Filipino consumer.”

Citi consumer business manager Sergio Zanatti reaffirms the bank’s commitment to innovation in the banking industry. “We remain focused on providing best in class financial products and services to our clients, and are confident that this new addition will be popular with the public.”

The card offers a free P100 movie pass for a minimum single-receipt purchase of P2,500 anywhere, including online and international transactions. When a cardholder’s Rewards Card is swiped at participating cinemas, they can see how many movie passes they can redeem. The P100 movie passes are credited to their accounts three business days after the purchase and are valid for 30 days.

Cardholders can redeem up to two movie passes at Cash & Carry Cinema, Eastwood Cinemas, Festival Cinema, Greenhills Promenade, Greenhills Theatre Mall, Robinsons Movieworld, SM Cinema and Walter Mart Cinemas.

When they shop with their card, they are entitled to five percent rebates at Aldo, Aldo Accessories, Celio, Charles & Keith, Giordano, Marks & Spencer, Nike Park, Pedro, Runnr, Toby’s, Topshop, Topman, Urban Athletics and Zara. They can earn as much as P1,000 rebates per month or P12,000 a year — a great deal for people who love to shop.     They can also receive rebates also at all department stores — as much as three percent — at The Landmark Department Store, Metro Department Store, Rustan’s Department Store and SM Department Store and one percent rebate for all other department stores. Card members can use the rebates in denomination of P100 to pay for their next purchase at the participating merchants and these do not expire.

The new card also waives annual fees for principal cardholders who spend at least P20,000 per month, or P240,000 within their year of membership. Their first three supplementary card members are free when they each make purchases at least six times every membership year.

The Citi Rewards Card is just one of the many new products and events the bank is rolling out in its 200th year.

“Reward yourself by doing what you like best. This is what the Citibank Rewards Card is all about. You don’t have to wait for promotions anymore because we have packed all these features into the card and made them available year round,” says Bea Tan, credit payment products director of Citibank in the Philippines.

We spoke with and asked her to elaborate on the Citi Rewards Card.

Excerpts:

PHILIPPINE STAR: Who is the rewards card intended for? What market are you targeting?

BEA TAN: The card is aimed towards the young professionals — achievers who work hard for the money yet know how to enjoy the good things in life.  They allocate budget for shopping as well as recreation. 

Do you think the Rewards Card appeals more to women than men?

The Citibank Rewards Card is intended to appeal to both male and female. While we may think only females are fond of shopping, our customer spending patterns show that even the male segment shops, too. That is why our merchant partners are a good mix of stores that appeal to both. Watching movies, of course, is not gender-specific and appeals to all consumers.

How did the card’s design come about? It’s very different from the rest of the Citi cards.

The new look is part of the strong branding across the region and even globally, of all Citi-branded cards (that is, those that are not a co-brand with partners). The upper portion is the Citibank blue, and the lower portion changes per country and is based on the card positioning and customer segment. The Citibank Rewards Card design is Filipino inspired — a modern, fresh take at a traditionally Filipino pattern. It is also very vibrant and lively, matching the cards’ benefits, which are shopping and entertainment.

Are there points to be earned apart from the rewards? There are no points to be earned for this card. Instead the customers earn up to five percent shopping rebates and free movie passes. The Citibank Rewards Card is designed to answer our customers’ two passions: movies and shopping.  We made the experience a lot more rewarding with a hassle-free redemption of movie passes as they no longer have to present charge slips.  The passes are automatically credited to their account and all they need to do is present their card at participating cinemas.

Apart from the current merchant partners, how many more are you looking at by yearend?  

We are constantly attuned based on what our customers need, thus we are continuously working on enriching our current roster of merchants. We have recently added Crocs, National Book Store, Powerbooks and Robinsons Department Store.

The movie passes are a great reward, are you looking at theater, too, (like Resorts World Manila or maybe CCP plays).

The free movie pass is a mainstay on the Citibank Rewards card. We can always add promotions for specific shows beyond movies that are clearly a benefit to our customers in the future. We want our Citibank Rewards cardholders to feel that this is the card they need for their fun and leisure activities.

How has the card been received so far?

Customers easily associate Citibank Cards with movies and shopping because of the many promos we have had in the past. Many are happy to see that the shopping rebates, which can easily be translated to Peso saves, and the free movie passes are now not just a promo but a permanent feature of the card. They are also happy to hear about the hassle-free redemption plus the annual fee waiver for spending.   

?Of the entertainment or leisure activities, do your cardholders spend more on dining or shopping?

Entertainment, dining and shopping are some of the top categories where our cardholders spend in. That is why our cards have benefits aligned to these spend categories. We have dining privileges for all Citibank Cards, and we have the two-percent rebate on dining with the Citibank Cash Back Titanium MasterCard. The Rewards Card is tailor-fit for those who like to shop for clothing, shoes, accessories in our partner shops or in department stores since they get up to five percent rebate. They are also the customers who like to watch movies as their leisure activity so the movie pass makes them feel good that they are able to get these for free for spending on their card. ?           

Why did you decide to have this Rewards Card to a MasterCard?

MasterCard has always been supportive of our card products. They also share the same vision of providing the best values to our customers.

What’s your advice for cardholders who have too many credit cards already but still want the Rewards Card?

We don’t suggest people to have too many cards in their wallet, especially as we understand this can be difficult to manage. Ultimately, the customer has to make the choice based on what he thinks is most relevant to him or brings most value to him. This card allows you to watch movies for free and to save as much as P1,000 a month,  that’s P12,000 a year,  on shopping.  These are two very common activities of many Filipinos.

If the card is used abroad, do they get points or any other reward when shopping?

Most other cards will only reward you only for local transactions. The new Citibank Rewards Card also allows our customers to redeem their movie passes even for online purchases as well as international transactions. Aside from that, redemption is made easier by just presenting your card at our partner cinemas to claim the movie pass. No need to keep your sales slips, which is not available for Internet purchases and may be difficult for overseas purchases.