2024-04-17 23:00:00
One of the main attractions that banks offer to attract and captivate their customers are loyalty programs, which in general allow them to accumulate points or miles through the use of credit cards, which in turn can be exchanged for products or trips.
However, the main industry players adjusted these programs, reducing benefit accumulation schemes.
According to senior banking executives, the fall in exchange rates in 2023 limited margins and with a new drop expected for October 2024, lower income will deepen.
At least six financial entities, which represent 65% of current cards, made modifications to the way of adding points or miles.
Added to the above is the increase in self-fraud, which has made the operation of the card business more expensive.
The casualties
One of the first companies to make adjustments was Banco Falabella. In November 2022, it announced that there would be a smaller number of points earned when making purchases at group companies.
The loyalty system in the Falabella group represented expenses of a little more than $76 billion in 2023, as reported by the bank in its financial statements.
Bci made changes in the middle of last year and in February 2024. In this case, the latter applied a reduction in the accumulation of miles in the alliance it maintains with American Airlines.
The entity ended last year with a 23.7% increase in expenses for loyalty program obligations and merits for card customers, reaching $33,455 million.
Banco de Chile reduced the “prize dollars” of its card loyalty program. Customers could redeem their dollars in more than 9 thousand products.
The company ended 2023 with expenses related to its loyalty programs for $39,731 million, 15.8% more than in 2022.
BancoEstado did something more drastic in February. The company ended its points program, launched in 2016.
BancoEstado clients have until this Saturday to redeem the points they accumulated during its validity. BancoEstado’s loyalty program reported annual expenses of $20,366 million.
That same month, Itaú sent an email to its customers informing of a change in its loyalty scheme, reducing the points that were accumulated for purchases with credit cards.
The Brazilian entity closed the year with a 9.2% increase in its expenses for obligations in its loyalty program, reaching $24,228 million.
Banco Santander also limited its loyalty program. Starting in July, customers who have a Latam Pass checking account will have a reduction in the accumulation of miles for certain types of payments. The measure is added to others that the bank had already been taking, such as the elimination of the “mileage advance.”
Santander concluded the year with expenses for this concept of $95,542 million. Likewise, it reported that in 2023 it had prepaid expenses associated with its alliance with Latam Airlines for $169 billion.
Scotiabank
Faced with this situation, Scotiabank recently published the following question on its website: “Did your miles leave you halfway? The Canadian capital entity then responds to itself: “If your travel rules have changed, switch to Scotia. Redeem your Scotia pesos for unrestricted travel on any airline.”
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