Safaricom’s points earned for every sh10 spent by subscribers on-net have been an in thing to most individuals used to acquire merchandise, free minutes, Short messages and free internet by only redeeming.
The company however holds un-redeemed Bonga Points worth sh3.2 billion reflecting increased liability the telecommunications company owes to its customers. The reward scheme first initiated in 2007 has hit 10 billion over the past in which 80 per cent was redeemed.
“We encourage of the points so that the programme can achieve its objective and also clear our books of accrued liability,” safaricom stated. Since the points can only be redeemed, the company has put up offers to lure subscribers such as redeem credits for smartphones, air tickets as well as pay-TV subscription.
However, without redeeming your points, the accrued liabilities from Bonga Points eat into Safaricom’s revenue given that accounting guidelines require the telco to only recognize the loyalty points as sales once customers redeem the credits.
The leading telecom’s total sales for the year 2013 would have therefore been 127.4 billion since the volume of accrued Bonga Points held by Safaricom has therefore doubled in the last five years from sh1.4billion to sh3.2billion.
Even after rolling out Changa Na Bonga which allows subscribers to pool Bonga points and use the credits to purchase merchandise using pert cash and pert Bonga points, the difference has not been much on their books.
