Works by Filipino style mavens in American Express holiday catalogue

By enhancing its holiday rewards catalogue with designer items from renowned Filipino style mavens, American Express Cards may be starting a new trend in the credit card industry.

American Express Cards issued by Banco de Oro offers cardmembers selected items that have become icons of great design in key cities of the US, disclosed Tricia Ustare, Amex loyalty and rewards manager. She noted that American Express Cards keep up with the evolving tastes of its cardmembers. “They are sophisticated and we exert great effort to know what appeals to them as a means of keeping their loyalty.”

The Yoda Chair by Cebu-based furniture exporter Kenneth Cobonpue and Celestina purses by Tina Maristela-Ocampo spearhead the Designer Rewards offered to cardmembers in the 2008 Christmas Catalogue of American Express.  

Ma. Nannette Regala, first vice-president and marketing head of the Consumer Lending Group, pointed out that compared to other cardholders, American Express cardmembers are frequent travelers.

“They probably encountered or heard of Cobonpue’s Yoda Chair or Ocampo’s Celestina bag in one of their trips to New York or some other global center but may not then have had the time or inclination to purchase them,” she noted. The American Express Membership Rewards Program offers them a convenient way to redeem these items that showcase Filipino ingenuity and heightened environmental consciousness.

Furniture designer Cobonpue has been cited internationally for being “over the top in ingenuity and resourceful innovation.” Tina Maristela-Ocampo’s diminutive purses made of shell and other indigenous products were named by Vogue last June as the next “it bag” or purse to have in one’s wardrobe.

Gift certificates from Patrice Ramos Diaz’s Paradi Boutique at Greenbelt 5 complement the Designer Rewards offered this holiday season to American Express International Dollar Cards and the Peso Platinum Card Cardmembers.

The Operetta Pet Bed is also highlighted among the Cobonpue pieces offered in the unique loyalty program.

The Celestina bag made of dark shell highlighted in the holiday rewards catalogue likewise has an earth-friendly appeal. The case, chiefly made of Philippine shell, is unembellished and pure in form, providing a contrast to other luxury purses in vogue.

The Designer Rewards will be offered up to March 2009.

To redeem rewards, American Express Cardmembers simply have to call the Customer Service Hotline and identify the items on the catalogue they wish to acquire in exchange for accumulated points.