Cerveza Poker turned loyalty points into a retirement pension

Cerveza Poker is sold through thousands of small shopkeepers across Colombia, who earned BEES loyalty points on the sales they made but rarely redeemed them. Meanwhile many of those same people had no formal retirement savings.

With Media.Monks Colombia and in partnership with the state pension fund Colpensiones, the brand launched the Beer Retirement Account: points accumulated on beer sales could be converted into money deposited directly into a pension account, with an additional contribution from the government.

The mechanism solved two problems at once. For the shopkeepers it created real retirement savings out of points that were otherwise idle; for the brand it turned a loyalty programme into something with lasting value for the people who distribute its product.

It also gave the retailer a financial product rather than a discount, so the brand's relationship deepened instead of being bought with price.