SM Investments Corporation has built one of the Philippines’ most recognizable retail empires on a simple premise: bring customers into SM malls, and they will spend across the group’s ecosystem. In 2026, that premise is being stress-tested—and expanded—far beyond the mall.
The Trip.com Deal and the Reinvention of SMAC
In March 2026, SMAC—the group’s loyalty arm formerly known as the SM Advantage Card—partnered with Trip.com to let members earn points on international hotel and flight bookings. The mechanics are straightforward: one point for every ₱250 spent on the online travel platform, credited within 60 working days after travel completion. But the strategic implications are larger. The deal integrates Trip.com’s inventory of more than 1.5 million hotels and 640 airlines into SM’s domestic rewards network.
Patrick Cua, SMAC chief operating officer, described the partnership as a way to expand the program “from local mall aisles to global destinations”. The Trip.com tie-up joins a travel portfolio that already includes Philippine Airlines’ Mabuhay Miles, AirAsia Rewards, and SM Hotels. Trip.com operates in 39 countries and 24 languages, covering 3,400 airports and roughly 300,000 tour products—scale that gives SMAC’s millions of members a reason to keep earning and burning points even when they are outside the Philippines.
The Ecosystem Logic: Retail, Banking, and Data
SM’s digital strategy has never been about a single app or platform. It is about keeping customers inside the group’s circle of services. The Trip.com partnership reinforces that architecture: a consumer can shop at SM Store, bank with BDO Unibank, book a flight through SMAC’s portal, and earn points that flow back into the ecosystem.
Behind the scenes, SM is also modernizing how it communicates with stakeholders. Its online platform, SM In Focus, launched in late 2024, surpassed 137,000 subscribers and generated more than 2.5 million views by 2026. The platform is part of a broader push to make corporate disclosures and investor engagement digital-first, reflecting rising demand for accessible updates.
Can a Mall Loyalty Program Become a Lifestyle Platform?
The opportunity is significant. SMAC already has a massive member base, and the group’s retail footprint gives it granular data on consumer behavior. By adding travel, SM captures spending that would otherwise migrate to airlines, online travel agencies, or rival loyalty programs. The risk is fragmentation: loyalty points are only as valuable as the redemption options and the ease of use. SM’s challenge is to make the Trip.com integration seamless enough that members do not treat it as a one-off promotion.
The broader signal is that SM is no longer defining itself as a mall operator that happens to have a loyalty card. It is building a data-driven lifestyle ecosystem where retail, banking, travel, and digital engagement reinforce one another. The Trip.com deal is a small but telling step in that direction—and a template for how Philippine conglomerates can extend traditional advantages into digital territory.
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