The bank has bolstered its customer-focused Pay with Points service with its latest partnership,

US-based banking group Citi, which has private banking operations, has partnered with Spotify, the music streaming subscription service, to introduce Citi’s Pay with Points scheme, a payment option for Citi customers to sign up for Spotify Premium. 

Citi credit card users in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Taiwan can use their credit card points or miles for instant redemptions on their Spotify Premium subscriptions, it said in a statement.

It is the first time globally that a bank has partnered with Spotify to offer the ability to pay for music subscriptions with credit card points and miles.

Launched in March 2017, Citi’s Pay with Points programme is live in nine markets across Asia-Pacific. Citi has announced that its Pay with Points scheme also has partnerships with Grab, Lazada, Expedia, Shell, Jetstar, Thai Airways and Starbucks in respective markets in Asia-Pacific.

Ironically, as reported recently, UBS, the world's largest wealth manager, is applying recommendation algorithms to propose trades to its clients that are similiar to those used by Netflix and Spotify.