THE BUSINESS OF LOYALTY
A few weeks ago Petro-Canada and RBC announced a new relationship that provides a unique way to instantly save on fuel and earn bonus points across both loyalty programs. This is great news for Canadians – who doesn’t love saving money on fuel? – but beyond that, what does this new partnership mean? We sat down with Sean Amato-Gauci, Executive Vice President, Cards, Payments & Banking, RBC and Deborah Gullaher, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Petro-Canada to find out.
Mediaplanet RBC and Petro-Canada are two great Canadian brands, what led you to come together on this initiative? Deborah Gullaher
This relationship with RBC is part of the continued evolution of our payment and loyalty programs. We’re always looking to understand what our guests would like, and they’ve told us loud and clear that they want the freedom of choice, and a financial partner that provides them with extra value. We realized we needed an innovative, broader payment offering in order to meet the needs of our guests. Partnering with RBC on this just made sense.
Sean Amato- Gauci for opportunities
We’re always looking to develop innovative partnerships to add more value for our clients. Fuel purchases are a relatively large component of Canadian’s discretionary spending, and by working with Petro- Canada we’re providing clients with tangible fuel savings. By combining our relentless focus on innovation, we’ve created a loyalty offer and fuel savings program unlike any other in Canada.
MP What makes this partnership so unique? DG
The power of this partnership and the program we’ve launched is that it’s incredibly simple. Most fuel savings offers are either limited to a co-branded credit card, or involve minimum spends and annual rebates. We’ve taken awayall of the complicated calculations, limitations and extra cards to make it possible for Canadians to enjoy instant fuel savings while they earn more points on any linked RBC debit or credit card.
MP Why did you decide to make this a linked loyalty program and not a cobranded credit card? SA
We’re offering our personal and small business clients the freedom to pay with any RBC debit or credit card in their wallet. This program is a fundamental business model shift in the loyalty and cards space that enables a much broader client base to benefit from instant savings every time they fill-up at Petro- Canada using any RBC payment card that they choose. For the first time, all of our 7 million credit card clients, along with our nearly 12 million debit card clients will be able to benefit from our program.
MP What are some of the benefits for your clients? DG
This program is all about choice and simplicity. Guests will always save 3¢ per litre and earn 20% more Petro- Points at Petro- Canada when they pay with a linked RBC debit or credit card. Linked RBC Rewards cardholders will also earn 20% more RBC Rewards. Once you have linked your cards there’s no need to carry two cards. We will also be rolling out more than 500 RBC- branded ATMs at Petro- Canada locations across Canada over the next six months to provide additional convenience to our clients.
MP How do Canadians participate in this program? SA
It’s easy and convenient for Canadians to instantly receive fuel savings and earn bonus points. Simply choose the RBC personal or business debit or credit cards that fit your needs, and link your Petro- Points card to your RBC profile online once. By linking, our clients’ won’t be issued a new card, but rather their existing cards will allow them to earn more points and save at Petro- Canada, in addition to their existing benefits. Visit rbc.com/ petro- canada to link your PetroPoints card to your RBC profile, or to find the personal banking account and/or credit card to suit your needs.