While many banks are eliminating rewards, Citi is
keeping its ThankYou rewards programme and making it even more
rewarding for customers who use Citi as their primary lender. Head
of banking products for US consumer banking Stephen Troutner tells
Meghna Mukerjee about the new ThankYou.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Things are changing for Citi. The
lender has stopped giving reward points for debit card transactions
and has raised monthly account fees. But Citi says that changes to
the programme also incorporate product enhancements.
The revised ThankYou rewards
programme will become effective on 9 December.
The ThankYou rewards programme was
introduced in July 2004. Citi says it has now decided to build upon
the ThankYou offers as a result of asking present and potential
customers and potential prospects how they define value in a
banking relationship.
Stephen Troutner, head of banking
products for US consumer banking for Citibank, told RBI
the research upheld some key messages from consumers.
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By GlobalData“The first one was ‘help me
simplify my financial life,’” says Troutner. “Secondly, they all
said ‘I want an opportunity to earn rewards for having that
relationship with you. And make them meaningful rewards.’”
According to Citi, customer
feedback is the foundation of how the programme has been
constructed.
The eligibility requirements for
the new ThankYou programme will be based on having a current
account with associated direct deposit and online bill pay, unlike
the present eligibility requirements that require customers to have
a current account and at least two other products and services with
Citibank.
“Everybody gets a pay cheque,
everybody has to pay bills,” Troutner says. “Getting a pay cheque,
that is where direct deposit came in. For paying bills, online bill
pay came in.”
The main highlight of the new
ThankYou programme, according to Troutner, is the “substantially
increased earnings opportunity” for all Citi customers.
“It opens up more that customers
can take advantage of in the programme,” he adds.
The new ThankYou programme offers
customers the chance to earn extra points compared to the existing
loyalty scheme.
Currently, a customer must accrue
8,000 points to earn a $50 cash reward. At 25 points per month, it
would take customers 320 months to receive the cash.
With the new ThankYou programme, a
basic current account holder at Citi will be entitled to earn 425
points on joining the scheme; it will now take a customer 19 months
to earn the $50 cash.
The other highlight, says Troutner,
is the eligibility requirements for the new ThankYou programme that
corresponds with allowing consumers to avoid paying current account
fees.
Additionally, customers will be
able to earn a significant portion of the maximum earnings
opportunity offered by ThankYou by virtue of just meeting the
eligibility requirements.
“The eligibility is tied to getting
a significant portion of rewards.
“Our basic banking customer with a
simple current account package option will earn roughly 70% of the
maximum possible points by having direct deposit and online bill
pay with their current account relationship.”
Alongside features such as the
ThankYou Travel centre, Bonus Centre, point transfers and more,
a new add-on is ThankYou apps.
“It is a way to give customers
better flexibility, value and options,” adds Troutner.
For Citi, despite the changes that
the Durbin Amendment will bring about October onwards, giving
rewards is “about recognising the value customers bring to the
institution”.
“In our case, a customer who has a
current account relationship with direct deposit and online bill
pay tends to be very stable,” says Troutner. “Their attrition rates
are much lower, and we realise great value out of it.”
Another product that has been added
to the ThankYou rewards grid is Auto Save that comes into effect
alongside the ThankYou changes in December.
Auto save will allow customers to
have a set amount of money swept from their current accounts
monthly in to a linked savings account, attempting to “take the
worry out of having a savings programme”.
Troutner says: “We have now made
auto save an explicit feature in the ThankYou rewards grid so we
will reward customers for it. It goes back to the theme of what
customers want. Something like auto save makes it a lot easier to
save towards a financial goal.”
New changes are always questioned
by customers but Citi is not worried, says Troutner.
“At the end of the day, the message is that you have the chance
to earn more in ways that are very simple, and aligned with ways to
avoid that current account service fee. I think it is a great
overall message.”
