Press Release
July 20, 2004
Bharti, ICICI Bank and HPCL Launch, “AirTel Rewards ICICI Bank Credit Card” Creates India’s First Multi Branded Credit card • • •
Multiple-Rewards Program For AirTel Customers launched AirTel customers can now avail multiple reward points on mobile usage, fuel spends and on shopping & dining Additional benefits to include upgrade to the exclusive AirTel Care Touch service, discounts on airline tickets, on hotels bookings etc
Mumbai, 20th July, 2004- AirTel, India’s leading mobile service, ICICI Bank, India’s second largest bank and HPCL, India’s second largest integrated oil refining and marketing company have joined hands to launch “AirTel Rewards ICICI Bank Credit Card”, India’s first multi-branded credit card. The only card in India with three commercial partners, it will enable high-end AirTel post-paid customers to be a part of the rewards program and earn multiple reward points based on their AirTel usage, fuels spends at HPCL outlets and other credit card spends. The credit card is an International ICICI Bank Silver Card. Mr. Manoj Kohli, President Mobility, Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd, said, “It is for the first time that a leading national mobile service like AirTel along with ICICI Bank and HPCL have all come together to launch a reward program card that complements the lifestyle of high end mobile customers. They earn rewards on almost all their spends while they are mobile – their mobile calls, shopping or entertaining or even while buying fuel from a gas station. It symbolizes our commitment to enhance the lifestyle of every segment of customers that we cater.” Ms. Chanda Kochhar, Executive Director, ICICI Bank, said, “After the immense success of our co-branded initiatives, we are extremely pleased to offer the country’s first multibranded credit card. This is in response to the customer demand for ‘more utility’ benefits from a single card and we hope our customers will find this triple benefit credit card quite useful.” Mr. S.P. Chaudhry, Executive Director-Retail sales, HPCL, said, “We are happy to be part of the innovative AirTel-ICICI Bank reward program as it gives us the opportunity to service more number of customers through our outlets spread nationally. I am certain that this synergistic approach would go a long way in setting new benchmarks for customer service in the country.”
Multifaceted
Benefits
of
AirTel
Rewards
ICICI
Bank
Credit
Card
Benefits from AirTel: 1 reward point for every Rs.100 of AirTel mobile bill irrespective of whether the customer pays through cash / cheque or any other credit card. 2 reward points for every Rs. 100 of AirTel mobile bill if paying through the AirTel Rewards ICICI Bank credit card. 3 reward points for every Rs.100 of the bill, for customers who subscribe to the auto debit facility on the multi branded reward card. Upgrade to “Care Touch”, the exclusive customer care help line for privileged customers Benefits from HPCL: By using the AirTel Rewards ICICI Bank Card, a customer can buy fuel at an HPCL outlet without having to incur the 2.5% service charge attracted on normal credit cards. 2 reward points for every Rs.125 spent at HPCL & HP outlets. The cardholders will also get a number of promotional schemes on a range of vehicle accessories, tyres, batteries, PUC checks as well as servicing facilities available at the HPCL outlets. Benefits from ICICI Bank: The customer will also be entitled to all other benefits of an ICICI Bank Credit Card such as utility bill payment facility, insurance related benefits, ‘infinity’ web based access, special discounts on domestic and international travel fares, global customer assistance services. On an ICICI Bank silver credit card for every Rs.100 spent on the card a customer can earn up to 5 reward points. The reward points earned can be redeemed against a wide variety of gifts from any of the partners like Free ISD/ STD/ Local minutes or Free Value added services from Airtel, Fuel vouchers from HPCL and gift vouchers for dining, shopping and entertainment or other gifts listed for ICICI credit card rewards redemption. AirTel Customers are invited to join the program based on their fulfilling certain criteria, which among others includes being on the AirTel network for more than 12 months, having a monthly billing in excess of Rs 1500 for more than 6 months and with clear payment history. AirTel in association with ICICI bank aims to expand the reward program to include more and more customers in the coming months.
About Bharti Tele-Ventures Bharti Tele-Ventures is India’s leading private sector provider of telecommunications services with an aggregate of 8.38 million customers as of end of June ‘04, consisting of over 7.67 million mobile customers. The Company today offers mobile services in sixteen out of 23 circles in India. The Company also provides fixed - line services and Internet access over DSL in 5 circles. The company complements its mobile and fixedline services with national and international long distance services. The company also has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore. The company provides reliable end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate customers by leveraging its nationwide fibre optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gateways and landing station. For more information, visit www.bhartiteleventures.com . About ICICI Bank: ICICI Bank (NYSE:IBN) is India’s second largest bank with an asset base of Rs. 1252 billion as of March 31st, 2004. ICICI Bank provides a broad spectrum of financial services to individuals and companies. This includes mortgages, car and personal loans, credit and debit cards, corporate and agricultural finance. The Bank services a growing customer base of more than 10 million customers through a multi-channel access network which includes about 470 branches, 1790 ATMs, call centres and Internet banking (www.icicibank.com). ICICI Bank runs one of the largest credit card programmes in India with approximately 2.3 million cardholders. About HPCL: HPCL is India’s second largest integrated refining and marketing company. The Public Sector Enterprise has the distinction of being one of the ‘Navratna’ companies identified by the Indian Government. During the year 2000-2001, HPCL recorded a turnover in excess of Rs.470 billion, with a net profit of Rs.10.88 billion. With two coastal refineries, an extensive infrastructure including cross-country pipelines, depots, terminals, bottling points and a network of more than 4600 retail outlets all over the country, HPCL has been meeting the energy needs of millions of Indian consumers for over 26 years.
For further press queries please contact: ICICI Bank : Madhvendra Das at (022) 2653 8208 or e-mail to madhvendra.das@icicibank.com. Bharti: Viraj Chouhan at 9818668081 or e-mail to vchouhan@bharti.com HPCL: P.T Suresh at 9821222818 or e-mail at ptsuresh@hpcl.co.in