Citi teams up with Amazon.com on e-commerce

American banking giant Citi has teamed up with e-commerce giant amazon.com to roll out a shop-with-points program bundled with rebates and free shipping for a number of consumer markets across Asia-Pacific, including the Philippines.

Citi announced on Wednesday that its customers could use rewards points for purchases at global online marketplace amazon.com. The collaboration also offers Citi card holders rebates and free shipping in a number of consumer markets.

Starting this month, Citi credit cardholders in Thailand who shop at Amazon.com will be able to use Citi’s global credit card rewards to pay for purchases at checkout. Cardholders in the Philippines can avail of the same program within the first half of 2017, along with Singapore and Australia.

The plan is to roll out the shop-with-points program across Asia during 2017.

“At Citi, we are focused on making banking easier for our customers by leveraging digitization, mobile technology and innovation which includes delivering a remarkable client experience in key digital ecosystems. We have seen that the rapid adoption of mobile and other digital channels has truly transformed how people shop and we are delighted that Citi cardholders in Asia Pacific can now shop with points on Amazon,” said Anand Selva, Citi’s head of Asia Pacific consumer banking.

With this new offering, Citi credit card customers can enjoy complimentary shipping on qualified purchases and get an additional 10 percent rebate up to certain amounts across a number of markets with a minimum spend.

Rebates and qualified free shipping will be offered across the Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong at various promotion periods within first quarter of 2017.

“We expect this partnership to be well-received by our clients, just as they have embraced our earlier digital initiatives,” said Bea Tan, head of consumer banking for Citi in the Philippines.  “Over the years, the Citi ‘Thank You’ rewards points have become a powerful currency.  Clients use it to shop at their favorite physical stores, or redeem anything from air miles to gasoline to rides around town.  We are excited that our loyalty points will soon be available also at Amazon.com.”

The announcement marks another key digital relationship that reinforces Citi’s goal to be increasingly relevant in key digital ecosystems where the banks’ clients are more active.

Citi’s consumer banking business in Asia Pacific – that spans 12 of 19 global consumer markets -shifted last year into a model that is simpler, dramatically faster, more scalable and far more digital, the bank said.

Citi announced a new digital innovation or partnership fortnightly on average in 2016. At present, more than half of the its consumer bank clients use digital channels, with mobile being the fastest growing channel with 35 percent growth year-on-year.

One out of every four new credit card accounts acquired by Citi now comes from digital sources and over 50 percent of the bank’s clients are actively using digital banking channels, up from 30 percent three years ago.

Last year, Citi also announced strategic partnerships in leading digital ecosystems across the region. Some of these included Alipay and WeChat in China and Line in Thailand and Taiwan. The bank also formed digital credit card partnerships with the likes of Amazon, Airbnb, Grab, Uber, Lazada and Air Asia in various countries across Asia.