Points earned from Japan's Ponta loyalty program have become interchangeable with those of Indonesia and Malaysia, enabling customers to earn and use points when shopping in any of the three countries.
Operator Loyalty Marketing Inc. said it recently launched a smartphone-based borderless point program for Indonesia's 20 million Ponta members and Malaysia's 8 million BonusLink members — building on 86 million domestic members — to cash in on a growing number of visitors from the two countries to Japan.
With the launch of the Ponta Global Alliance Cloud platform, the Tokyo-based company aims to expand the network to cover 150 million customers in Asian markets, as it has already made similar deals covering users in Taiwan and South Korea.
Ponta points have been available in Indonesia through a local partner, PT. Global Loyalty Indonesia, since 2015, and are now used at 15,000 retail outlets such as convenience stores, restaurants, hotels, and education and financial institutions under 75 brands.
In Malaysia, Loyalty Marketing has teamed up with BonusKad Loyalty Sdn. Bhd. since 2016 to make Ponta points interchangeable with those of BonusLink, the most widely used point program in the country and available at 3,000 outlets, according to the Japanese company.
In Taiwan, Eastern Integrated Marketing Inc. has offered a loyalty program under the license of Loyalty Marketing, allowing its 6 million members and counterparts in Japan to earn and use their Ponta points in either market.
Under an alliance with SK Planet Co., which operates South Korea's largest loyalty program OK Cahsbag, its 34 million members can earn and use Ponta points during their visits to Japan and also bring back those points to use in their home country, according to Loyalty Marketing.
Established in 2008, Loyalty Marketing launched the Ponta loyalty program in 2010 and now boasts nearly 200,000 partner outlets in Japan.