Citi has joined forces with Southeast Asian Uber clone Grab to let customers pay for rides with their credit card points.
The service - which is going live in Singapore and the Philippines, with Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to follow - sees riders who charge their Citi credit card on the GrabPay app receive a text message from the bank asking if they would like to redeem the ride for points. If the customer agrees, the redemption is made automatically and reflected in their monthly statement.
The new feature marks the first time that Citi has integrated its credit cards with a transport app. It is also a first for Grab, which claims one in eight of Southeast Asia's smartphone users are already on its platform.
To encourage take-up, the partners have been giving customers who add their Citi credit card to GrabPay a discounted first ride. In return, Grab customers who sign up for any Citi credit card through the partnership get a number of free rides worth up to US$50.
Anand Selva, head, Asia Pacific consumer banking, Citi, says: "By integrating our services into key applications such as Grab we also will drive growth in our cards business via new acquisitions and increased customer loyalty."