Citi And PayPal Team Up To Offer New Payment Choices
If you’ve got a Citi card and a PayPal account, you’ll soon have more choices as to how you’ll pay for things. That’s because Citi and PayPal have partnered to allow Citi cardmembers to use ThankYou Points at any online merchant that accepts PayPal as a method of payment.
This new capability is not slated to launch until 2018, but it’s still an exciting development, and it’s only one of the changes that will take place due to the partnership between PayPal and Citi.
Says Gary Marino, chief commercial officer at PayPal, “This agreement with Citi is about deepening our relationship as well as creating a deeper platform integration that can add value to our joint customers.” He said the ability for Citi customers to use Thank You Points for PayPal purchases shows “the power and flexibility of our technology platforms.”
Reward points perks
One of the nice things about credit cards that offer reward points, such as Citi’s ThankYou Points, is that they are generally very flexible in how they can be redeemed. Points can be cashed in for statement credits, travel credits, gift cards, or frequent flyer miles, depending on how cardholders most prefer to use them.
Many cards also offer double or triple points on purchases in certain categories, such as restaurants or gas stations. Co-branded credit cards give extra points at a specific store, airline, or hotel that issues the card in conjunction with a bank.
More Citi benefits introduced via mobile app
Besides the PayPal partnership, Citi has recently unveiled a series of perks that can be used via their mobile app, such as the ability to track a replacement card that’s been mailed out and see where it is in real time. Cardholders can also dispute a charge or view or download statements in PDF form, all from the convenience of their smartphone.
Ralph Andretta, head of branded cards at Citi, said the company’s 14 million ThankYou Rewards members will be able to “utilize an innovative, intuitive new channel to redeem their points” thanks to the partnership with PayPal.” He also indicated that Citi plans to roll out the new PayPal capability on a global scale “in the near future.”
