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Friday, July 30, 2010

Citibank Charge Slips Can Now Be Used as Cash (Almost!)


All of us have had our fair share of movies subsidized by 1,500-peso charge slips with Citibank's "Free Movie Ticket" promo (we all know it ain't completely free), which has been going on since last year. While this promo has been a boon to movie lovers like you and I, the very limited life of the "Free Movie Tickets" (one month) has resulted in several wasted opportunities for some of us. Also, the reward loses some, if not most, of its value when we are "forced" to use it to watch a movie that we would not otherwise watch had it not been for the ticket subsidy.

So imagine my pleasant surprise when I got this text message from Citibank a few days ago:

"Your rewards, your choice! Get P100 off at Mercury Drugstore, Rustans Dept Store & Supermarket, Shell, Shopwise, SSI stores or get a P100 movie pass. Submit valid single-receipt charge slip worth at least P1,500 at partner merchants to redeem."

Wow. With this promo, we don't have to force ourselves to watch shitty movies like Eclipse and The Last Airbender anymore just to avail of the reward.

I took a quick look at the website of Citibank Philippines to get the promo details, and this is what I got:

"Have the freedom to choose how you want to be rewarded.

Just spend at least P1,500 on your Citi Card and exchange your charge slip for a movie pass worth P100 at partner cinemas or P100 off at participating Shell stations, Rustan's Supermarkets, Shopwise, Mercury Drug branches, Rustan's Department Stores or at Stores Specialists, Inc. (SSI) stores. You may exchange up to 2 charge slips per day."

Now that we can use our credit card charge slips for more practical items like groceries, gas, and medicine, the true value of the reward moves closer to its monetary equivalent. In other words, the reward now practically becomes an outright 6.67% discount on purchases; well, that is if you make sure your credit card purchases are in denominations of 1,500 pesos. I bought something from Rustan's department store earlier for 5,000 pesos and the cashier lady refused to split the bill into several charge slips. I was able to do it in Landmark Trinoma though. :)

Kudos to Citibank for this consumer-friendly reward promotion.

By the way, I'm not in any way related to Citibank. I'm just an ordinary credit card user trying to get the most of what the system allows.

See the promo terms and conditions here. Unfortunately, it only runs up to October 31, 2010. But I'm sure those fellows will extend this thing, if they know what's good for them (and us!).