Smith Barney Offering Citi ThankYou Reward Points to Clients
By Justin McHenry
Smith Barney, the wealth management arm of banking giant Citi, announced last week that it is now offering Citi’s ThankYou reward points to customers that use certain products and services from the company. This is the second announcement from Citi of ThankYou points being awarded for services beyond credit cards. Previously Citi had announced a partnership with travel site Expedia.com that allows Expedia customers to earn ThankYou reward points.
Smith Barney will initially offer ThankYou points to its Financial Management Account clients. Clients will receive one ThankYou point per dollar spent on purchases made with an FMA Card linked to their FMA account, with no limit on the points clients can earn and no expiration date.
Citi appears to be trying to up the ante on loyalty rewards by spreading the ThankYou program across more financial and shopping opportunities. By doing so, Citi may be able to differentiate itself in the credit card rewards game, where credit customers have come to expect something back, thus making the basic reward programs of old less interesting to them. If Citi can prove to potential customers that cardholders can earn ThankYou reward points (or bonus reward points) at more locations than any other card, they will have a leg up on their competitors.
Citi’s ThankYou reward program offers points toward merchandise, gift cards, travel rewards and more.