PVR+Inox is India’s largest multiplex chain with over 1,700+ screens. The chain enjoys over 20% market share in the movie exhibition industry in India, which has a current supply of over 8,500+ screens. In the peak of the pandemic, PVR Cinemas and INOX decided to merge and announced their decision in 2021. Subsequently, after obtaining various statutory and compliance approvals, the new entity came into being from 1 April 2023 onwards.
The merger has brought in various complimentary benefits to the chain which both the former companies have derived through their combined strength. Incidentally, over 30 locations, where either of the chains operated have been shut down permanently due to their proximity to the newly formed entitity’s screens.
A small workforce has also been relieved, thereby bringing in synergies of manpower management.
The multiplex chain had launched a co-branded Debit card in association with Kotak Bank in 2021. However, due to the pandemic led lockdowns followed by a low visitation of public to movie halls due to social distancing, the debit card did not take off as expected.
With a renewed interest of the general public to watch movies since mid-2022, despite the lack of top stars or a big fat budget but with great content, there has been a huge upswing in the number of viewers at theatres.
In Aug. ‘23, PVR Inox reported its highest ever entry to its multiplex screens, on the back of two blockbuster movies – Jailer feat. Superstar Rajinikanth, Gadar-2 feat. Sunny Deol as well as several other movies such as OMG-2, Bhola Shankar, among others. PVR Inox announced that it had recorded 1.90 Crore admissions and a revenue of Rs. 532 Cr during the month.
While many brands in the consumer industry have earlier tied up with banks to offer co-branded credit cards, such as Shoppers Stop with Citibank, Flipkart with HDFC, Amazon with ICICI Bank, to name a few, there are very few who have ventured into offering co-branded debit cards.
There were 945 mn active debit card users in India as of Jan. ‘23 when compared to 83 mn active credit card users at the same time. India remains a savings-led economy, with a majority of Indian consumers first earning before they spend, a pattern that is specific to the Asian region, especially in the Indian sub-continent.
– Editor in Chief
The co-branded PVR-Kotak bank debit card offers 10% rewards points for every rupee spent at PVR. This percentage of reward points is among the highest in the country in the category.
All transactions done on Points Of Sale and E-Commerce via Kotak PVR Debit Card are eligible for earning PVR reward points (with certain exceptions and capping*). Users will earn PVR reward points for all transactions be it bill payment, online shopping or POS transactions at merchant outlets, ticket booking etc. though the reward structure for such transactions is in tune with market offering, capped at 0.5%.
Subject to a monthly spend of Rs. 2,000 at PVR Cinemas for food & beverage and movie tickets, the user will earn Rs. 200 as reward points. On an annualised basis of Rs. 24,000 spent at PVR Cinemas, one can earn reward points of Rs. 2,400, which can be directly redeemed as PVR vouchers, which can be redeemed for tickets and F&B at the cinema.
In a city like Chennai, where ticket prices are capped at Rs. 200 per visit, users can earn up to 20 tickets annually, on a spend of Rs. 24,000 at PVR annually. An outing for a family of four at a PVR Cinema could cost Rs. 1,200-1,500. Therefore, avid moviegoers could benefit immensely from this cobranded debit card.
