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Amex, Cathay Pacific issue cards

American Express (Amex) International Inc teamed up with Cathay Pacific Airways to launch two premium co-branded credit cards in Taiwan and Hong Kong yesterday, aiming to attract high-spending frequent travelers in the region, company executives said at a launching ceremony.

“These two markets are key markets for us and we have a successful growth strategy that focuses on delivering premium and real value to customers,” said Y.C. Koh (古益川), senior vice president and general manager of American Express in charge of greater China and Southeast Asia businesses.

REWARDS

The co-branded cards will reward their cardholders with “faster and easier” flight mileages in Asia Miles (亞洲萬里通) as well as provide a free green-tier membership to the airliner’s Marco Polo Club, the card issuer said.

In Taiwan, a better-valued bonus mileage plan is being proposed for potential clients. New customers approved for the cards before Sept. 30 will be given 15,000 miles — the equivalent of a round-trip ticket between to Hong Kong — if cardholders use their cards to spend a total of NT$10,000 in the first year.

If an additional NT$400,000 is spent in the first year, an extra 20 percent premium mileage on top of each mile earned from every NT$25 spent will be awarded to guarantee another round-trip ticket between the two destinations.

A third round-trip ticket will automatically be awarded to members who have spent NT$400,000 in the first year and decide to renew their membership in the second year.

Cardholders, however, will have to pay annual membership fees of NT$5,000 and NT$1,800 respectively for elite and standard co-branded cards.

The annual income thresholds for elite and standard co-branded cards are NT$800,000 and NT$600,000, lower than the average annual income of NT$1 million among existing American Express cardholders.

Currently, American Express has more than 100,000 users in Taiwan, who on average spend NT$14,000 per month — five times more than the market average, Patrick Foo (胡柏迪), the chairman of the company’s Taiwan branch, told a media briefing after the launching ceremony.

CLIENT BASE

Lavinia Lau (劉凱詩), manager of Cathay Pacific Loyalty Programmes, said that Asia Miles has almost 400,000 users in Taiwan, and Foo added that it would serve as a client base for the card issuers to expand its own in the Taiwan market.

Lau said that Asia Miles already has 850,000 users in Hong Kong, where lucky draws and annual fee waivers would be used as extra bonuses to applicants for American Express Cathay Pacific co-branded cards.

CROSS-STRAIT FLIGHTS

Although Cathay Pacific will not be included in the upcoming chartered flights between Taiwan and China, Adrian Harley, the airliner’s general manager in Taiwan and Korea, expressed confidence yesterday that the planned direct flights would help to lift the local economy.

Cross-strait direct flights will make travel easier in the region, boosting both business and tourism travel, which Cathay Pacific will also benefit from, he said.

Moreover, the airliner believes that incoming Chinese tourists may wish to travel to third places such as Hong Kong and Macau during their trips to Taiwan, where Cathay Pacific will be able to gain “a share of the bigger pie,” he said.

Koh said the company was looking into other potential Asian markets in which to launch the co-branded cards.
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