STAR, Banca Transilvania’s loyalty program for clients with credit cards, has helped change shopping habits over the past 10 years: customers choose to pay at merchants, in-store and online, by card and by phone, in full or in installments, and even in a different “currency” — STAR points.

STAR is an ecosystem that benefits both cardholders and merchants. Over half a million people hold STAR cards. For them, the program means loyalty points on purchases paid in full in Romania and abroad, or shopping in up to 24 installments at more than 17,000 partner merchants, as well as access to credit limits of up to five times their monthly income.

BT statements:

• “STAR is Banca Transilvania’s flagship program. It has become the leading loyalty program for credit cards in Romania thanks to the way our actions complement each other, covering the card business end to end — both issuing and merchant acquiring. On the one hand, we attract new STAR cardholders and merchants into the ecosystem, and on the other we continuously roll out features and offers for credit cards.” – Gabriela Nistor, Deputy CEO, Retail Banking.
• “We want to take STAR to the next level, with an increasing focus on online transactions and benefits, in a fully digital environment. The effort to keep the program vibrant is considerable and constant, with hundreds of campaigns run annually with partner merchants.” – Oana Ilas, Executive Director, Retail Products Management & Development.  
  
  

How STAR has changed BT customers’ shopping habits:

• Preference for card payments at merchants has increased versus cash withdrawals at ATMs. 96% of transactions on STAR cards are purchases, compared with 48% in 2011, when the program was launched.
• Preference has increased for shopping by phone and with payment accessories, especially via BT Pay, launched three years ago. Through the app, customers can access card information — transaction history, credit line details, payment of the monthly amount due, etc. — and manage their cards directly in the app. More than half of STAR cards are enrolled in BT Pay.  
• Customers also pay in a new “currency”, STAR points, which can be used for free purchases, with each point worth one leu. Nearly 100 million STAR points have been awarded to date — the equivalent of the same number of lei.
• Money is managed better and more easily, with the program enabling installment payments or the accumulation of loyalty points. Over the years, customers have chosen to pay in installments mainly for higher-value goods such as home items — furniture, decorations, construction materials — as well as electronics and appliances, and also for hobbies, holidays, etc.

A card study conducted this year by Quantix for Banca Transilvania shows that the STAR brand is associated with familiarity, differentiation from similar programs on the market and relevance. Respondents see it as very suitable for achieving personal plans and consider it modern, adapted to online commerce, with broad merchant acceptance.

Over the years, the STAR program has contributed to the growth of BT’s card business. At launch in 2011, the bank had approximately 150,000 credit cards issued, out of nearly 1.8 million cards overall, growing steadily year after year and now reaching over 550,000 out of 4.5 million.

Resources:

• STAR program
• BT credit cards
• BT blog: The stars of the STAR program
• Intreb BT – questions and answers in banking