I’m a big fan of mobile payments. I don’t usually bring huge amount of cash with me as I find it quite risky. That’s why I was very pleased when I knew that Globe radically revamped and supercharged their rewards program for subscribers – technically giving more value to existing rewards points or balance.
Last Saturday was wife and siblings 3D World War Z movie date. Confident that my available rewards points would suffice, I volunteered that I’d pay for their movie tickets at Trinoma Cinemas. Upon checking my rewards balance (by sending ‘Bal’ to ‘4438), I felt a bit embarrassed when I saw that I’ve got less than 1,200 points left – technically short by 300 points or PhP300.
And then it dawned on me, my dad has been a long time user of Globe so he probably has lots of Globe rewards left. So, I asked my dad with a smile and asked if he could spare some virtual moolahs (which I believe he wouldn’t even use) in exchange for my oompa-loompa services for 1 week. As expected, my dad didn’t twitch and simply say “Sure”. This is exactly what I did next…. twice:
SHARE 917XXXXXXX 500
You can actually share your rewards points to your family friends. Take note though – you are only allowed to do 5 share/transactions per day, and you will charged PhP1/transaction.
Satisfied and felt accomplished, we hurried to Trinoma and went straight to the ticket booth and purchased 5 tickets using my Globe Rewards. Purchasing tickets using my rewards points wasn’t actually cumbersome. The lady at the booth was very helpful and even showed a guide on how to purchase the tickets.
Be sure to check for your rewards balance prior to purchasing anything with your Globe Rewards. When purchasing tickets at Trinoma, simply type:
BUY<SPACE>9175880745<SPACE><POINTS>
Send to 4438
You have to remember though that merchant number may vary. The number you see above may only be applicable to Trinoma Cinemas. Also, be sure that you won’t be able to do any Globe Rewards transactions if you have an overdue balance.
The supercharged rewards system of Globe definitely offers seamless and easy cashless transactions for prepaid and postpaid subscribers. While I find it good, it does not mean that it’s already perfect. As a matter of fact, I’ve got a wishlist for it – I hope that Globe would look at considering the following:
- While GlobeRewards Transactions can be done via SMS and USSD, it only has a dedicated app for iOS. Globe might want to develop an Android App for this service. There are lots of startup tech companies that can help them develop/create one.
- Globe should come up with a microsite dedicated for Globe Rewards where subscribers can find the latest trends and merchants that offer products and services. Having said that, Globe should consider tapping more merchants. To date, Globe only has the following companies (with corresponding minimum points requirements:
- Ayala Mall Cinemas: 100 points
- Figaro Coffee Company: 50
- Wendy’s: 50
- Petron: 50
- Enchanted Kingdom: 100
- Sunglass Hut: 300
- Rose Pharmacy: 50
- Globe Rewards must be seamlessly integrated to Sureseats as one of the payment options.
- How about providing free Globe Rewards card with NFC to those who have accumulated more than 1,000 rewards points? Such can be used to pay much easier by simply tapping it to payment terminals.
How about you guys? Have you tried using your Globe Rewards? Please use the comments below and share us your thoughts.
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
