Safaricom opens use of Blaze Bonga Points at retail outlets

Corporate News

Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore. PHOTO | FILE 

By DOREEN WAINAINAH

Safaricom has introduced the use of its customer loyalty credits dubbed Blaze Bonga Points at selected retail and food outlets across the country at a cash equivalent value of 20 cents each.

The telecoms operator, through its youth platform Blaze, allows those registered on it to buy items at Java, Domino’s Pizza, Coldstone Creamery, Bata, Planet Yoghurt and IMAX as well as selected university cafeterias.

“We currently have partnerships with these outlets and are looking at partnering with as many vendors as possible to provide offerings that would appeal to the youth,” Safaricom said in a statement.

“These include but are not limited to clothing stores, eateries and more university cafeterias.” The move is part of Safaricom’s plan to attract younger subscribers as well as redeem loyalty credits which are counted as a liability in its books for as long as they remain unused.

“Management defers revenue for every point accumulated and recognises the revenue relating to the point earned only on redemption,” said Safaricom in its annual report.

READ: New Safaricom tariff targets youth with personalised bundles usage

The value of unredeemed Bonga Points as at March 31, 2016 was Sh3.23 billion up from 2.99 billion the previous financial period.

Bonga Points are accumulated based on a customer’s spending of every Sh10 on voice calls, the short message service (SMS), data and M-Pesa services.

The telco reported Sh5.9 billion worth of deferred revenue arising from unused airtime, unused data bundles and unredeemed Bonga Points under the Loyalty Management System (LMS) which are not expected to result into cash outflow in the normal course of business.

Upon purchase or payment at the outlets, Blaze users will follow the steps provided by the telco to redeem Blaze Bonga points.

For instance, a customer can buy two Pizzas from Domino’s Pizza valued at Sh1,750 for 8,750 Blaze Bonga points. The conversion rate is replicated at all the partner outlets, including buying shoes at retailer Bata.

Blaze targets the fast-growing age group of 18 to 26 year, offering them access to a specialised platform which includes custom-made tariffs and product offerings.