Globe converts P7-M freebies for subscribers

MANILA, Philippines - Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. has converted P7 million worth of freebies to subscribers in the form of coffee, cinema tickets, fuel, load credits and gadgets, enabling the telecom provider to keep loyal customers.

Jay Beltran, head of customer lifecycle management at Globe, said the number of points redeemed by subscribers would go up with additional partners coming in for the Globe Rewards scheme.

“Our reward or rebate program has already seen the redemption of some seven million points,” Beltran said.

Globe’s reward program added seven more new merchant partners on Thursday. These include Ayala Cinemas, the Filipino-owned Figaro chain of coffee shops, Petron Corp, the Cebu-based pharmaceutical chain Rose Pharmacy, Sunglass Hut and the fully Filipino-owned theme park Enchanted Kingdom.

Globe rewards points are earned every time a prepaid subscriber tops up or a postpaid subscriber uses his Globe postpaid plan. Subscribers could also receive points shared by fellow subscribers for bigger rewards.

To date, Beltran said over 12 million subscribers have been actively using their points to redeem brands.

Transaction is done with the merchant’s cashier via short messaging service (SMS) or text message.

“The positive impact the rewards program has impressed on subscribers is translated to brands’ churn rates being sustained at low levels. The subscribers’ continued use of Globe services was also reinforced as a result of giving subscribers the type of rewards no other mobile networks can offer,” Beltran stressed.

For his part, Globe president Ernest Cu said the rebate program has not adversely affected the company’s financial performance.

“From our macro perspective, Globe’s rewards program has kept our churn rate down or maintain it while having the effect of increasing loyalty,” he explained.

Globe booked a 13 percent growth in core income to P3.086 billion in the first quarter from P2.74 billion in the same quarter last year.

The company’s core income, which excludes foreign exchange transactions, mark-to-market gains and losses as well as non-recurring items, was also doubled the P1.5 billion booked in the fourth quarter of last year.

Globe’s consolidated service revenues in the first three months of the year grew six percent to P21.36 billion compared with P20.25 billion the year earlier as revenues from its mobile business inched up three percent to P17.12 billion from P16.57 billion.

The company’s total mobile subscriber base rose 13 percent to 35.1 million as the number of postpaid subscribers grew 21 percent to 1.9 million while total prepaid subscribers rose 13 percent to 33.3 million.