Eastern Integrated Marketing Inc (東森整合行銷), a subsidiary of Eastern Multimedia Group (東森媒體集團), yesterday said that it aims to become the nation’s largest reward credit card operator, dethroning Happy Go (快樂購) card, by increasing the number of people using its Ponta Card in Taiwan to 10 million within the next three years.
That would put the number of Ponta Card users equal to that of the Happy Go card, which is issued by the Far Eastern Group (遠東集團), company chairman Lin Wen-yuan (林文淵) said at a news conference yesterday.
Currently, Eastern Integrated has 100,000 Ponta Card users.
“We welcome all businesses to join our Ponta Card system, while Happy Go card is mostly used by companies that are part of the Far Eastern Group,” Lin said.
Eastern Integrated Marketing launched the card on Dec. 1 in cooperation with Japan-based Loyalty Marketing Inc, which operates Ponta Card in Japan, the firm said.
Ponta Card, which can be used to accumulate points, is the largest loyalty card scheme in Japan with 65.84 million members, Eastern Integrated Marketing said.
Lin said the company would increase its capital and allow Loyalty Marketing Inc to invest in it, adding that Loyalty Marketing’s holding would be capped at 30 percent.
Eastern Integrated Marketing has also formed partnerships with iPass Corp (一卡通票證) and Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商業銀行), allowing the card to be used as a new payment method for traffic starting in February and for shopping in the near future, Lin said.
Lin said the company hopes Ponta Card systems in Taiwan and Japan can be linked within a year, allowing card holders to shop in both nations.
Next year, the company aims to increase the number of Ponta Card users to 3 million and the number of shops accepting the card to 496 brands from the current 80.
Eastern Integrated Marketing collects commissions from the shops that join the card scheme, but the sum would be limited, Lin said.
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