UOB and Fave to transform traditional rewards and loyalty programmes

By Leandra Monteiro

UOB have taken aim at disrupting the traditional banking rewards experience with the launch of UOB Rewards+, an initiative which also sees the Bank joining forces with Fave. This strategic alliance brings together two major rewards and loyalty programmes in Singapore and is the bank’s first initiative under its new unified digital platform, UOB TMRW, to make banking simpler, transparent and engaging for all its customers.

Recognising that scale, transparency and a personalised experience are key to changing the traditional rewards system for all consumers, UOB has formed a strategic partnership with Fave that doubles the number of merchant locations in UOB’s rewards programme. This makes UOB Rewards+ the largest merchant rewards programme in Singapore and its customers can enjoy more savings when they pay for exclusive deals from these merchants with their UNI$ or UOB$. They can also earn Fave Partner Cashback when they use UOB TMRW to pay at the stores.

In a first for the region, customers can also track through UOB TMRW the amount of credit card reward points they earn with every purchase. This changes the traditional banking rewards experience which provides consumers a summarised view of their consolidated rewards points, making it difficult for them to reconcile their spend with their rewards points earn rate. It’s new digital feature was designed to make the rewards experience simple and transparent so that customers know exactly how many reward points they earn without having to do tedious manual tracking.

The UOB Rewards+ programme also features the Bank’s proprietary digital engagement engine, which brings together improved solutions in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and data analytics to personalise the reward experience for each customer. It is able to learn from the customer’s transaction and reward redemption patterns to recommend relevant deals. The digital engagement engine also powers UOB TMRW’s insights feature, which provides personalised prompts to help customers spend and save more wisely.

Jacquelyn Tan, Head of Group Personal Financial Services, UOB said, “At UOB, we are always looking at how we can optimise value and create a personalised and engaging banking experience for our customers. Through our continued digital investments, including a $500 million commitment over the next five years across ASEAN, our customers will be able to bank, manage their wealth and meet their lifestyle priorities all in a single app – UOB TMRW.”

“The rewards redemption experience for customers today leaves much to be desired as it can be cumbersome. Consumers in Singapore want more clarity, such as the 87 per cent of respondents in our market research who want a breakdown of the rewards points they have accumulated. Our strategic alliance with Fave which brings together two of Singapore’s largest rewards and loyalty programmes under the UOB Rewards+ programme and our goal to make rewards simple and transparent for customers have changed the game completely for them.”

Ng Aik-Phong, Regional Managing Director of Fave Singapore and Malaysia shared, “Fave is excited to be partnering with UOB in disrupting the traditional banking rewards experience. Both Fave merchant partners and customers will definitely be able to benefit from the expanded rewards ecosystem. For our merchants, the opportunity to reach out to a broader customer base and for our customers, an additional channel to stack their rewards, earning both UOB rewards and Fave cashback.”