RIYADH -- As part of its customer retention program and also to attract new subscribers, Saudi Telecom Company (STC) has launched a rewards scheme for Alhatif and Aljawal customers. The scheme, effective since yesterday and called "Qitaf Loyalty Program", involves collecting points when subscribing to mobile or regular phone services, for usage value and for regular bill payments.
Addressing a press conference here yesterday, Khaled Al-Jasser, STC's vice president for sales and marketing, said that "the scheme is mainly intended to offer rewards to local customers who subscribe to STC services."
"This program will ensure a range of free services as rewards for STC customers, whose number currently exceeds 12.5 million including some nine million mobile users," Al-Jasser said.
Al-Jasser said that customers can subscribe to Qitaf free of cost by calling Aljawal's 902 center or Alhatif's 907 center and start accumulating points.
Customers will be credited with one point for each SR10 spent on mobile or regular phone services, six points for timely bill payment and 12 points on mobile or regular phone subscription fees. "A customer can redeem accumulated points for various rewards, if he has at least a balance of 100 points", explained Al-Jasser, adding that the reward lists include free Alhatif line, free local minutes and free national minutes.
Corporate mobile and regular phone users including government entities or phones registered under a company's name are not eligible for the rewards. Spelling out the salient features of the Qitaf program, STC's general manager for corporate communication Saad Dhafer clarified that the Qitaf points can only be redeemed as rewards and there is no cash value. To redeem one's points, one has to call 902 or 907 and the points will be redeemed from a reward list provided there is sufficient balance in one's Qitaf account.
Each accumulated point will be valid for 12 months, but the customers will be notified before STC decides to scrap the points of a customer or cancel the reward program as a whole. Dhafer said that "these types of programs will help the company to acknowledge the customers' loyalty especially in a growing market like Saudi Arabia." He said that the "telecommunication market will grow by 30 to 40 percent this year and hence there is no threat from new players in this sector."
He said that STC was determined to become more customer-focused and competitive.
M. Ghazanfar Ali Khan
© Arab News 2004
