"Although it is still fairly new to the South African rewards programmes market, UCount Rewards owes its success to the value and diversity that it offers its members.
As a result, the programme has attracted over 550,000 active members," says Fayelizabeth Foster, head of Loyalty and Rewards at Standard Bank.
South African consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits offered by various rewards programmes. As they become more aware, they become more discerning, looking for the uniqueness that each programme has to offer and how they can use it to stretch household budgets and savings.
"Essentially the success of UCount Rewards lies in the practicality of the programme. Customers can easily collect rewards points using their qualifying Standard Bank personal credit, cheque or debit card. Members are rewarded for purchasing products and services that they use on a daily basis," says Foster.
Furthermore, the rewards programme has made it possible for members to redeem rewards points for the purchase of food, tyres, furniture and other household needs at participating rewards retailers. Customers are becoming more accustomed to being able to tailor what is on offer for their own needs.
"As a programme that is dedicated to meeting customer needs, we are constantly looking to develop new value-add services and offerings that will give our members more choices," says Foster. "As we embark on our third year, we will be leveraging technology to make UCount Rewards easier to use, more accessible to the end-user and completely focused on deriving more benefits for our customers."
To date, the programme has enabled South Africans to receive over R243m in fuel benefits, with R85m being spent on the UCount Rewards Online and Travel Malls.
"UCount Rewards will continue to develop the elements that have made it a winner with South Africans. It is still one of the best schemes in the country. Undoubtedly because it is simple, transparent and guarantees the value of benefits," says Foster.
