Mobile carriers enhance membership benefit services

[Photo by Han Joo-hyung]

South Korea’s three major telecommunication companies are strengthening their services related to membership rewards so that customers can receive more tangible benefits, including coffee and movie coupons.

According to multiple sources from the telecommunications industry on Tuesday, LG Uplus Corp. has been providing a service via its My Data application (app) Money Me since July 2023.

The service returns membership benefits that its subscribers may have missed, with the amount returned via the service exceeding 140 million won ($104,558) as of January 2024 to date.

If a customer forgot to receive a 10 percent membership discount at the convenience store GS25 while making a payment of 10,000 won, for example, he or she can receive 1,000 won in Money, the app’s points system, as a refund that is equivalent to the discount amount.

‘Money’ can be used like cash in the app and can be exchanged for coupons at various places such as Starbucks and Lotteria Co.

SK telecom Co. subscribers can use the T Membership via the mobile carrier’s artificial intelligence (AI) app A dot on top of the membership platform app, thus easing user accessibility.

By mentioning T Membership to the AI chatbot in the A dot app or entering it in text format, customers can be directly connected to the membership screen, and the app displays the membership barcode for usage.

KT Corp. is also strengthening guidance for users who have not used their membership points.

Unlike other companies, KT provides membership points annually based on grades, and any remaining points are forfeited if they are not used beyond a certain period.

“We strengthened the personalization page for users to easily check remaining points and usage history when we revamped the app in 2023,” a KT official said. “We also send sign up messages to non-users at the end of each month.”