Credit Card Promotion

It has become de facto practice for banks to use promotions to gain Credit Card customers. With over 9.5 million credit cards in circulation as on March 2016, as per statistics released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, for a population of approximately 5.53 million (putting together citizens, permanent residents and other residents as per statistics released by the Department of Statistics, Singapore) and a plethora of banks and financial institutions offering credit cards, the hunt for credit card customers is well and truly on!

Credit Card Promotion is one of the most important weapons in the arsenal of banks looking for credit card customers. Let’s look at some of the mechanisms by which banks leverage promotions in their holy grail quest for new customers:

Sign-up Promotions

These are meant for new credit card customers. Sign-up promos come in various forms – gifts, reward points, air miles, vouchers etc. For instance, when you apply online for HSBC’s Revolution Credit Card, you get a Samsonite RED Robo 65cm Luggage worth $335 plus $20 cash rebate. You will need to apply on or between 01^st April 2016 and 31^st May 2016 and should charge a minimum of $600 to your card within the month of issuance.

Another example is when you sign up for a credit card from DBS / POSB. You will need to apply online by 30^th June 2016 for a DBS Live Fresh Card or DBS Black Visa Card, DBS Woman’s Card or the POSB Everyday Card and charge a minimum of $700 per month for the first 2 months from your card approval date.

On-going promotions

You can’t provide promotions for new credit card customers and leave existing ones in the lurch, can you?! On-going promotions are targeted at existing credit card customers. Here are a couple of examples:

If you have a Maybank credit card, you can enjoy 1-for-1 and up to 90% off deals with their Mid-Year Sale promotion that runs from 07^th May to 31^st July 2016.

The Citibank Expedia promotion offers you 6x Citi PremierMiles, 15x Rewards Points or 5% cashback depending upon the credit card used on Expedia. The promotion runs till the end of 31^st July 2016.

Affiliate Promotions

Its not just banks that come up with promotional offers. Card affiliates like Visa and MasterCard also come up with promotions. For instance, Visa offers $1 off minimum for every $7 spend with Visa payWave and 4 movie tickets for the price of 3 with Visa Checkout at Golden Village.

MasterCard on its part offers 20% off any AirAsia international flights every Wednesday with their MasterCard AirAsia #PoseWinFly Photo Contest and a 10% admin fee waiver when you use book and pay for your taxi ride with MasterPass on the Comfort Delgro Taxi Booking App, amongst its currently running promotions.

Making The Most of Credit Card Promotions

This might seem like a no-brainer but you must use your credit card at the promotion offering store to avail of the offer. Sometimes, you must also ensure that the card is swiped at a particular bank’s terminal as well. Also, go through the fine print; promotions could be potential minefields.

Promos may be conditional on a certain amount of spend happening on the card; they may be restricted to the “Early Birds”, those who first take advantage of the offer; promotional offers may also not be clubbed with other existing offers either on the card or at the merchant’s.

For example, Citibank Singapore offers best deals in singapore on your Citi credit cards spends online or storewide at dining, online shopping, travels, petrols savings or fuels etc. Some of the promo offers are year-long offers or occasional, based on the merchants and availability. Another example, you get a $15 rebate when you shop on Taobao for a minimum of $100 with your Maybank credit card on the 11^th of May 2016; however, this offer is limited to the first 500 redemptions.