NEWS FLASH
Air Serbia and Banca Intesa have signed a Letter of Intentions for the issuing a co-branded VISA card for all users of Air Serbia’s future loyalty programme. The national carrier’s new loyalty programme, which will replace the existing Etihad Guest frequent flyer, will enable point accrual which is not exclusively linked to travel. Thanks to its strategic partnerships with banks, payment card holders will be able to enjoy the benefits of the programme with everyday shopping. Air Serbia’s CEO, Jiri Marek, said, “Partnership with Banca Intesa is a strategic step forward in our vision of offering top-quality service to our passengers at all times. Our goal is to combine everyday financial activities with the world of travel with an innovative co-branded card, designed with a clear intention - to make our loyalty programme even more attractive and accessible. We want our more than 4.5 million passengers per year to really feel that the company appreciates them and rewards their loyalty adequately. The new card will bring discounts and benefits, and also expand the range of rewards, making everyday shopping a firm step closer towards a new destination. In this manner, the loyalty of our passengers gains new value, whether they are on a plane or on the ground”. Banca Intesa is Serbia’s largest bank by total assets.
I am not happy with Intesa, it might be the largest but it's far from being efficient or customer friendly. Anyone know if this will expand to other banks or if that's it?
ReplyDeleteMaybe they will team up with some Serbian banks like AIK or Alta?
I very much doubt that they will go for multiple partners, Serbia is not that big of a market.
DeleteIt will be more
Delete"Thanks to its strategic partnerships with banks"
They go for stable and reliable bank. For sure they will not go with ex exchange office bank that can crash easy.
DeleteWhichever bank they chose someone would be unhappy.
DeleteAlta bank??? Are you kidding me?
DeleteAnon 10.36
DeleteOf course, that is why we don't have a monopoly. People go to banks they like the most.
Hahaha, Alta bank..
DeleteKombank and Poštanska are the must if they really want to cover the market and approach the customers. I'm not gonna change the bank, not just open the card in another bank for this. Unless they extend, it will be rather disappointing.
DeleteSo people are unhappy they chose the biggest bank in the country used by the most people in the country. The logic...
DeleteActually Postanska has much more clients than Intesa.
Delete^ very stupid comparison because it is used by many pensioners to get their pension as they don't have an account anywhere else. They don't use it to travel with Air Serbia. Big banking experts here, like airline experts.
DeleteYou want an international bank so that you can potentially get deals that this bank can offer outside of Serbia. Or you think that Postanska Stedionica has a deal, for example, with Hilton or Europcar that you can then benefit from? Does Postanska Stedionica have experience with international (or even local) loyalty programs? I understand that people want to feel patriotic, but come on.
DeleteI see that Intesa and Unicredit are JU's main banks. Unicredit is kinda small so I hope that won't be their second option.
ReplyDeleteWell this bank may be small locally, as is the case in SLO as well, but globally they are big players.
Deleteit's irrelevant how big it is somewhere else. Every bank in every country is its own company, even if it is owned by a wider group. Other than extract money from an ATM your unicredit bank account in Serbia is meaningless anywhere else.
DeleteThey should think about partnership with Raiffeisen Bank and ofc as state owned airline, they should partner with state owned bank, Banka Poštanska šteditonica.
ReplyDeleteFinally, I can get airline miles on my štedna knjizica.
DeleteI don't think your штедна књижица is linked to this program. It has to be a credit card tied to your active account.
DeleteRaiffeisen Bank is needed. Intesa may be the largest bank by number of users, but most heavy-customers are in Raiffeisen.
ReplyDeleteWhere do you get that false information. Dude Intesa is the one and only. Every bank has one or a few large client companies, but Inteza banka is largest
DeleteThat is because Intesa is state-owned. Raiffeisen has better premium packages, best eBanking system and heavy-premium clients go there.
DeleteIntesa is state owned... Do you hear yourself?
DeleteFor the uninformed person at @11.47
DeleteDirect from the internet so you learn something
"Banca Intesa in Serbia is 100% owned by the Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo , which is considered one of the leading and most stable financial groups in the entire eurozone."
Intesa sure is one of the biggest if not the biggest bank in Serbia, but for years was falling behind in digital transformation and efficient processing. And this is coming from someone who spent ten years working for Serbian banks. As someone who also was a customer of at least 6, or 7 banks in Serbia, I can safely say that Raiffeisen is much better suited for this role, but I guess Air Serbia already has a working relationship with Intesa.
DeleteI’m disappointed with the selected bank. I was expecting a Serbian bank either a AIK Banka or Poštanska štedionica.
ReplyDeleteThe idea is to have as many costmers able to use is, not to cater for your patriotism. So selecting the largest bank in the country made the utmost sense.
DeleteПоштанска штедионица would make a lot of sense. They are quite big.
DeleteI was also hoping for AIK because I already have a card there :)
DeletePostanska stedionica has to be one of the worst banks in Serbia.
Delete@11:09 And extremely inefficient, unfortunately.
DeleteAny update when the new program will start?
ReplyDeleteAir Serbia's CEO, Jiri Marek, announced the launch in June 2026.
Deletepay in cash, avoid banks and keep money local
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteYes, please book tickets online by paying in cash sending it via mail.
DeleteDo you pay for your apps in cash, 12:00? For your bills every month? When you travel? Always in cash? I mean these things sound nice in theory, but in practice they are either undoable or unpractical.
DeleteThey just signed LOI...at this pace we will have new loyalty programme in 2030.
ReplyDeleteCobranded bank card does not have to launch at the same time when the FFP starts.
DeleteDoes Serbia have Serbian banks?
ReplyDeleteVery few. Entire banking sector was privatized in 2001.
DeleteA few of them - Aik (the only domestic "proper" bank, albeit with politically compromised owners), Alta (owned by a completely controversial guy deeply affiliated with the corrupt regime that started as an exchange office), Poštanska Štedionica (pretty outdated and inefficient, targeting retirees and low income people) and Srpska Banka (with only one physical branch, intentionally laying low due to strong affiliations with SPDR and other governmental arms export companies).
DeleteIt boils down to the old Serbian saying "od zla oca i još gore majke".
I had a bank in SLO owned by AIK. First, they made great changes but then it all went downhill from there. Not a fan now. Moved to another bank a year ago.
DeleteMany airlines worldwide have that program. They issue you with their own credit card supported by some bank or Credit Card financial institution, like VISA. You can use it when buying groceries in the local shops.
ReplyDeleteA dubious health insurance (they claim you are insured) when you buy a ticket with that airline, with their credit card, comes cheap (albait useless).
I am really confused what at the end is loyalty program here?
ReplyDeleteWhy are you confused? This will be part of the loyalty program, where with this card you can buy stuff such as groceries at the store and earn points.
DeleteI find Etihad Guest program still very relevant. The redemptions you can get on short trips in the US with JetBlue and AA is fantastic, and the miles one earns on JU USA flights is quite fair. It would be ideal if they keep both programs for miles collection so customers can decide which one they prefer.
ReplyDeleteThere is not a single airline in the world that uses two frequent flyer programs and lets passengers choose which they want to use. What a bizarre suggestion. I so agree that Etihad Guest is pretty good.
DeleteBanka Intesa i probably the worst bank possible. Zero customer service, had to deal with them once for a simple transaction, never again. Aik used to be awesome, since the rebranding in March they are slowly becoming new Intesa. Postanska is okay if you are a retairee, OTP is a notch above Intesa, Halk is okay for now.
ReplyDelete