Sonera to be included in K-Alliance’s loyal customer programme - PLUSSA POINTS FOR MOBILE PHONE CALLS

Plussa points will be given in the future for domestic mobile phone calls made, and for messages sent through Sonera’s GSM subscriber connections. K-Plus Oy and Sonera Corporation’s Mobile Services signed today in Helsinki an agreement to this effect. The new benefit will be available to existing and new private customers who are both Plussa cardholders and subscribers to a Sonera GSM connection. The cooperation will start within this year. Detailed information on how Plussa points accrue will be posted to customers, and the Plussa customer magazine Pirkka will include additional information in connection with the introduction of the cooperation.

According to Eija Jantunen, Managing Director of K-Plus Oy, this cooperation agreement will provide tangible extra advantages to the customers of both parties. ”Plussa points are a way of rewarding our loyal customers. We are happy to be able to expand the system and to offer it to our partner, too. The new cooperation to be introduced is perfectly in line with the objective of the Plussa card, which is to cover the main sectors of daily consumption of customers as comprehensively as possible. The development of telecommunications technology will continue to offer an abundant potential for new useful services to be developed for our customers.”

Anni Vepsäläinen, Senior Vice President of Sonera Corporation, Mobile Services, also emphasises the importance of a customer relationship. ”In addition to the versatile service offer of a frontrunner, we also want to give clear benefits to our customers. The cooperation with K-Plus Oy is the first step towards an expansion of Sonera’s loyal customer programme. K-Plus Oy is a natural choice for partner, because we have many customer groups in common.”

Sonera is the leading Finnish mobile phone operator, with over 2 million mobile phone connections at the end of 1999. The number of mobile phone connections and the use of mobile phone services has been growing since the beginning of the 1990’s.

Plussa has established itself the position of the leading Finnish customer loyalty programme in the trading sector. In addition to the K-Alliance’s retail stores, Carrols hamburger restaurants and Tähti Optikko outlets, Plussa points are currently given by the Neste petrol stations for refuelling, Scandic Hotels for accommodation and restaurant services, Aleksi 13 stores and Yhtyneet Kuvalehdet Oy for standing subscriptions to the Seura magazine. A total of 1.3 million households are collecting Plussa points. The number of cardholders amounts to 2.3 million.

For further information, please contact:
Eija Jantunen, Managing Director, K-Plus Oy, tel. +358 1053 37100
Tapio Näveri, Concept Manager, K-Plus Oy, tel. +358 1053 37170
Anni Vepsäläinen, Senior Vice President, Sonera Corporation, tel. +358 2040 3628
Päivi Nummi-Aho, CRM Director, Sonera Corporation, tel. +358 2040 5564