Company says the program reflects deep appreciation for customers who have few other options anyway
A major remittance center serving overseas Filipino workers and their families announced a new customer loyalty program this week, promising rewards for frequent transactions that, upon closer inspection, top out at a free branded wall calendar for customers who complete a certain number of qualifying transfers within a calendar year.
A Program Years in the Making
According to company executives, the loyalty program was developed after extensive internal discussion about how best to reward the millions of customers who rely on the service regularly to send money home to family members, a customer base the company describes internally as remarkably loyal, a loyalty the company’s marketing materials attribute partly to genuine trust in the brand and partly, though this is mentioned rather less prominently, to limited nearby alternatives in many overseas job markets.
We wanted to create something that genuinely reflects how much we value our customers, the company’s head of marketing explained during the program’s launch event, standing beside a table displaying the grand prize calendar, which features a different scenic Philippine destination for each month alongside the company’s logo prominently displayed in the header. This is our way of saying thank you for trusting us, transaction after transaction, year after year.
Customers React With Mixed Enthusiasm
Reaction among regular customers has been notably mixed, with several longtime users expressing polite appreciation for the gesture while also noting, gently but pointedly, that a calendar felt like a fairly modest reward given the company’s transaction fees, which several customers described as a meaningfully larger cost than whatever value a wall calendar might provide in return. One customer, who sends remittances monthly to support her parents, said she appreciated being recognized at all but had, upon reflection, hoped for something with slightly more practical value, such as a reduced fee on a future transaction.
Others took a more good humored view of the program, with one customer joking online that the calendar would at least help her keep track of exactly how many more transactions she would need to complete before qualifying for whatever comes next in the loyalty tier, assuming the company introduces additional prize levels beyond the current single tier structure, which as of this year’s launch it has not.
The Company Defends the Program’s Scope
Company representatives have defended the program as a meaningful first step rather than a finished offering, noting plans to expand the rewards structure in future years pending what they described as a full evaluation of this year’s participation and customer feedback. A spokesperson emphasized that the calendar itself had been thoughtfully designed, featuring destinations chosen specifically to resonate with overseas workers who, the company’s own research suggests, frequently express homesickness for familiar Philippine landscapes.
Consumer advocacy groups focused on migrant worker welfare, reached for comment, offered a more measured assessment, noting that while loyalty programs of any kind reflect a positive step toward customer recognition, the broader and more pressing concern for many overseas Filipino workers remains transaction fee structures themselves, an issue that coverage in outlets including the Philippine Star and the Inquirer has periodically examined in greater depth. One advocate suggested that a fee reduction, even a modest one, would likely be received with considerably more enthusiasm than any calendar, however scenic.
The Company Remains Optimistic
Despite the mixed reception, the company reports that initial program enrollment has exceeded internal projections, with tens of thousands of customers signing up within the first week alone, a result executives attribute to genuine brand loyalty rather than any particular excitement about the calendar specifically. The company says it will review customer feedback closely and has not ruled out introducing additional reward tiers in future program cycles, though it has not committed to a specific timeline for doing so.
Bohiney.com will continue tracking the program as it develops, calendar page by calendar page.
A Modest Upgrade May Be Coming
Company executives, responding to the wave of good natured criticism, indicated during a follow up interview that internal discussions were already underway regarding a possible second tier reward for the program’s most frequent customers, though they declined to specify what such a reward might include, noting only that it would need to remain financially sustainable given the company’s existing fee structure. One executive acknowledged, somewhat candidly, that a fee discount remained the most frequently requested reward among customer feedback submissions so far, though he stopped short of confirming whether that specific request would ultimately shape next year’s program.
In the meantime, the company says it has already begun printing next year’s calendar, featuring, according to an early preview shared with reporters, a redesigned layout that includes slightly larger monthly grids, a change the marketing team described as directly responsive to this year’s customer feedback, even if the feedback in question had mostly been about something else entirely.
The company confirmed it has no current plans to alter its transaction fee structure as part of the loyalty program, describing fees and rewards as, in its words, two entirely separate conversations, a distinction several customers said they found difficult to fully accept.
A company spokesperson closed the interview by noting that customer feedback would continue to be reviewed carefully ahead of next year’s program cycle, adding that the calendar itself had, at minimum, already proven popular enough as a physical object that several branches reported running short of the printed stock within the first two weeks of distribution.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com