Affinion Group opens contact center in BGC

MANILA, Philippines - US-based loyalty and customer engagement solutions provider Affinion Group has opened a contact center facility in the Philippines to cater to growing demand for services from clients.

Affinion Philippines country manager Nono Felipe said in a press conference the company decided to establish a local presence due to the available local talent pool as well as competitive cost of doing business in the country.

“Our global management team has worked for different business process outsourcing companies with operations in the Philippines, and they love the experience,” he said.

“They like the specific skills set of Filipinos in relation to the contact center and shared services industry. Also, it’s because of lower operating cost,” he added.

Affinion’s facility, located in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, has 200 seats.

Felipe said the firm has hired 210 employees to use the facility to cater to clients from the US.

Rich Pitrolo, senior vice president for service delivery and contact operations at Affinion, said in the same event the firm’s clients are mostly financial institutions.

While there are no immediate plans to open additional facilities in the country, he said the company intends to grow its operations.

“Right now, we would like to stay and grow in Manila,” he said.

He said the company could double or triple its employee count, depending on the performance of the existing pool.

Affinion is engaged in developing and marketing programs to strengthen and expand the customer relationships of various companies.