Shopping without spending

So, you’ve been using your plastic like there was no tomorrow, and you have thousands of rewards points that you’ve never gotten around to redeeming. Not to worry if you’re a Citibank credit cardholder. Your points won’t expire – not in six months or 18 months – unlike with other banks offering their own rewards programs. You can even "save" your points and buy really big-ticket items such as a digital camera or an airline ticket for your dream vacation. This is just one of the great features Citibank’s rewards program offers its customers.

"Ours is really superior compared with other banks," says Aneth Lim-Ng, Citibank public relations assistant vice president. "Because our points never expire, you don’t have to worry about missing the deadline or forfeiting your points, which happens to a lot of credit cardholders. At Citi, we like to think of your credit card not just as plastic, but as key to our relationship with the customers and that relationship involves rewards. Every time we talk to our clients and ask them what they like about Citibank, the rewards keep coming up."

Citbank’s program has been running successfully for more than 10 years now. It was the first to offer such a program locally, and even at the beginning it was so comprehensive that up to now they haven’t really changed it – it’s just the catalogue that they keep updating. And even that has gone through a lot of improvements. Whereas before they offered catalogues that lasted up to two years, now they’re offering catalogues that are updated every few months. "We realized that in terms of gadgets, a lot could happen in two years – they become better, they become less expensive, they become more high-tech, and we have to keep up with that."

So how do they design their program? "We always ask ourselves what’s important to our clients. What we found out are these: points that don’t expire, easy redemption so that they don’t have to go to the bank or a store that will then make them fill up all sorts of forms, free delivery nationwide, and easy ways to redeem. Now they can do that through a phone call, an e-mail, do it online, or through fax."

It’s also very easy to earn points. Every P30 spent on a Citibank Visa or MasterCard earns you one point; for Gold and Platinum cardholders, spending abroad earns you double points. The bank also runs limited and exclusive programs with retailers that let customers earn five times the regular points for purchases.

"Other banks have copied our program, but they’ve never really been up to par." Aneth adds that it takes about 10 to 20 percent fewer points to redeem a similar item from the Citi program compared with other banks. This means that while you may need only 10,000 points for a particular item for a Citi reward, you may need about 12,000 for another bank.

So how do they choose what to offer in their catalogue? There’s a rewards committee that oversees the program and from research based on the spending patterns of clients. "We make sure that there are the big and small items – things like a laptop and an electric fan because some people like to save their points and convert them into one big reward while others want instant gratification."

People may make fun of the electric fan being offered by most banks as a reward, but Aneth says this is one popular item since households change this overused appliance very often.

Citibank’s current Summer Rewards catalogue is divided into 10 sections: Intensity Gold, Summer Fever, Home Warmth, Gadgets Extreme, Sunny Toys, Very Personal, Shopping Highs, Dining Hotspots, Hot Getaways, and Donations and Waivers.

Intensity Gold is a new section introduced this year. It gives Citibank Gold and Platinum cardholders an exclusive selection of items which they can redeem at 20 percent less the reward points compared to a Silver card.

"We introduced this to show that we value our Gold and Platinum holders and picked items we feel are relevant to their lifestyles."

Such items include the super-cool Oregon iBall, which lets you play music from your iPod wirelessly, the practical Nextbase portable DVD player and Canon Powershot digital camera, the rather amusing Innotec shower radio (I mean, really!), and the useful Krupps cappuccino/espresso maker.

From the Summer Fever section, you can pick from camping gear such as a Coleman tent and picnic table with umbrella, a Sony HandyCam DVD, Canon Digital Ixus, or toys for kids.

The Home Warmth section includes appliances for every day like an electric fan, a Krupps coffee maker and Black & Decker rice cooker, Whirlpool microwave oven and a Philips home theater system, window-type air-conditioners and accents chairs and ottomans.

Gadgets Extreme is for people who like to have every new gadget that rolls out onto the market but don’t necessarily want to spend for them. Take your pick of iPod (Video or Nano), Altec Lansing speakers, an Apple iBook, a Canon printer, and some Black & Decker power tools.

Sunny Toys wouldn’t be complete without a Dora or Barbie doll or some Chicco toys that include activity sets, some gaming gadgets such as a Microsoft Xbox and a Nintendo DS.

Very Personal lists down items like hair dryers, shaving sets, pillows and luggage pieces, as well as medical equipment like an Accu-Check blood glucose kit. It also includes freebies from spas and a month’s membership to gyms.

With Shopping Highs, you can get gift certificates from department stores such as Robinsons, SM, Rustan’s, and boutiques like Adidas, Bench, Guess, TopShop and SSI.

If you want to exchange your reward points to treat your families, choose from the Dining Hotspots and Hot Getaways. The former gives out dinner buffet certificates from hotels like Makati Shangri-La’s Circles Café, Edsa Shang’s Heat, and Mandarin’s Paseo Uno, restos like CPK, Gerry’s Grill, Friday’s, Teriyaki Boy and Starbucks.

The latter gives you choices that range from an overnight stay at Shangri-La and Peninsula Hotels, to out-of-town destinations such as Boracay. Many cardholders also convert their points into frequent flyer miles and Citibank offers Northwest’s World Perks, Singapore Airline’s Kris Flyer, Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles, and Thai Airways’ Royal Orchids Plus.

Aneth says that because some airlines’ mileage points expire, you’d better check what other offers they have. She once used her airline miles (part of which were from Citibank rewards points) to get an extra night in a Bangkok hotel.

From the Donations and Waivers section, you can choose to donate to UNICEF or Children’s Hour. You can donate your points and Citibank will convert these into a peso amount which goes to the charities. Or use your points to pay for your card’s annual membership fee.

Aneth says, "Competition has moved to a whole new level. People have more than one plastic in their wallet, the question is, which card will they use more often? With our rewards program, people tend to pull out their Citi card more than the other banks. Our rewards program solidifies our leadership."

Indeed, if you manage your cards wisely (which means you don’t max them out!), you can reap rewards a hundredfold.

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For more information, log on to www.citibank.com.ph.