The report highlights that four out of five consumers in the Asia Pacific region are more likely to use payment cards with travel-related rewards or benefits for their travel expenses. This trend is particularly prominent in countries such as Malaysia, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Mainland China, and Hong Kong SAR. Additionally, consumers from India, Vietnam, Hong Kong SAR, Malaysia, and China are also inclined to use payment cards with travel rewards for their daily expenses.
GLOThe report, based on a survey of 4,750 respondents across ten markets in the Asia Pacific region, aims to gain insights into consumers’ expectations from brands and companies in the “Customer Experience Era.”
The findings of the report demonstrate that 76% of consumers in the Asia Pacific region consider the experiences provided by brands and companies to be as crucial as their products and services. As consumers take on a more influential role (“C-suite”), their expectations are rapidly evolving: they demand hyper-personalized communication and offers, anticipate their needs, and seek emotional connections with the brands they engage with the most. In this context, travel-related rewards and benefits have emerged as a promising opportunity for financial services brands to enhance their commercial success.
The report highlights that four out of five consumers in the Asia Pacific region are more likely to use payment cards with travel-related rewards or benefits for their travel expenses. This trend is particularly prominent in countries such as Malaysia, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Mainland China, and Hong Kong SAR. Additionally, consumers from India, Vietnam, Hong Kong SAR, Malaysia, and China are also inclined to use payment cards with travel rewards for their daily expenses. Notably, millennials show the highest interest in such rewards, and more than 90% of Gen Z consumers in the region would join a new customer engagement and loyalty program if it offered these benefits.
Rohan Bhalla, Vice President, Business Solutions, Asia Pacific, Collinson, emphasizes that customer experience remains pivotal in fostering long-term loyalty, and while rational rewards like points or cashback are preferred by most consumers, experiential benefits hold increasing significance, especially for younger demographics and frequent travelers.
The non-financial, experiential-driven rewards sought after by consumers in Asia Pacific include airport lounge access, VIP privileges, environmental sustainability rewards such as carbon offsetting, digital rewards in the form of NFTs, and access to digital experiences in the Metaverse and charitable donations. These types of benefits appeal most to millennials and Gen Z respondents.
Financial services brands have a competitive edge in meeting consumers’ evolving desires by connecting customer data across products to identify and predict major life events. Brands are increasingly creating contextual engagements by leveraging micro-moments in their customers’ lives to add value and generate measurable business impact.
The report also reveals the popularity of customer engagement and loyalty programs that offer the ability to redeem and use travel-related rewards and benefits. Approximately nine out of ten consumers are attracted to such programs, with higher interest observed in Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, India, and China.
Regarding travel-related rewards, airport lounge access is considered the most appealing, evoking a positive emotional connection with the brand providing access. Access to airport transit hotels ranks second, while Gen Z and millennial consumers, particularly in Mainland China, Korea, and Thailand, find access to gaming lounges as the third most attractive travel-related reward.
Collinson collaborates with leading financial services, travel, and hospitality brands to provide exceptional airport experiences, loyalty programs, and customer engagement initiatives to strengthen their relationships with their most valuable customers.
For the report, data collection agency Cint surveyed 4,750 consumers in ten Asia Pacific markets, including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam, who participate in one or more brand loyalty programs and took one or more return trips by air in the last year.
