ZerofyX: How Telco Bill Offset Loyalty Rewards Can Power App Monetization

Paying telco bills is usually seen as purely transactional or, even in some cases, seen as moments of annoyance if the bills are higher than they anticipated. But now there is a way for telcos to turn the moment that a customer views their bill into a loyalty reward moment.

When a loyalty program can offset or visibly reduce that bill, viewing telco bills becomes a moment when customers look forward to how their relationship with their telco has rewarded their loyalty with real, tangible value. This process, at Circles, is called Zerofy-ing the bill. 

By implementing a cashback loyalty marketplace system, everyday spending can create visible telco value, and that value can be used to reduce the perceived cost of connectivity. For telco leaders, this matters, as it can merge three key business KPIs: app (and brand) engagement, loyalty, and monetization.

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Covering Ground: Discussions on Telco App Economics & Telco Loyalty Economics

The first article of this series covered that telcos already have large audiences for their apps, but almost half of these users don’t use it beyond routine management of their telco accounts.¹ To turn their telco apps into growth channels, telcos need to provide customer value, increase app engagement, and ensure that the app economics of the app monetization program are sustainable.

The second article proposed that loyalty programs can have a monetization component to enhance their economic sustainability. Telcos are already investing in partner perks, app-based benefits, and reward ecosystems. After providing relevant and personalized customer value, the next step for telco loyalty programs is to drive profitable commercial value.

This last article in the series combines the ideas in both articles by showing how Zerofy-ing telco bills can turn bill viewing into loyalty moments, supported by a program that gives telcos a new source of revenue.

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Merging Cashback and Telco Bills—Turning Bills Into Loyalty & Engagement

Bill-offset rewards can make the reward for telco loyalty become more visible to customers, as it is connected to something the customer already notices every month. 

Zerofy-ing their telco bills encourages customers to visit their telco apps to check on the progress of their telco bill offset progress on top of browsing partner-based deals on the telco app’s marketplace. On top of these, rewards points can still be used for more traditional rewards like value-added services, devices, partner-based loyalty rewards, and more. 

Tying the loyalty program’s value to the telco bill gives customers a strong, monetizable reason to come back to the app. This transforms the app from a routine telco management tool into a commercial driver.

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How ZerofyX Works: Spend, Earn, Zerofy

ZerofyX is built around a simple loop: Spend, Earn, Zerofy.

Customers can earn cashback rewards points by spending with participating brands or telco-linked offers. These reward points can then Zerofy their bills or earn them telco-related services or partner rewards. 

Customers prefer earning loyalty points through everyday spending, as the Global Loyalty Organization uncovered.^2,3 Their research found that shopping online, shopping online, and dining out are some of the top ways that customers love earning and spending their telco rewards points.

This logic leads to the Spend, Earn, Zerofy Flywheel: Spend via the cashback app → Earn cashback rewards points → Zerofy bills or redeem partner rewards.

The operator logic is more strategic. Everyday spending creates new reasons for customers to return to the telco app, interact with partner offers, track value, and see progress toward bill offset.

The pathway to value for both telcos and customers follows these steps:

Activation & Discovery

When customers first open the telco app, an “Earn-as-you-spend” value proposition will be clearly visible on the home screen. Circles has implemented this in its MVNO brand, Circles.Life, which it owns and operates. When customers open the Circles.Life app, the masthead near the top of the screen gives them an immediate entry point to discover ZerofyX-related deals.

To kickstart their cashback journey, new users will also receive an activation cashback credit. To further boost engagement, customers will also receive smart, personalized deal alerts highlighting high-value opportunities to reinforce their instant financial benefit.

Engagement & Growth

As cashback rewards points accumulate, subscribers will start seeing real financial gains. This growing rewards balance drives continuous engagement with the app and the telco brand, creating a natural flywheel: Spend→ Earn→ Zerofy→Repeat. In time, and paired with participating brands and rewards that customers value, the app will become their preferred savings-through-spending tool.

Loyalty & Stickiness

With substantial cashback built up, subscribers can greatly lower their monthly bill amounts or even unlock zero-cost connectivity for that month. Their Zerofy account can eventually become their hub for their spending, with more transactions routed through the platform and paid via cashback rewards.

In short, the customer receives a more useful loyalty experience while the operator gains a more measurable engagement and marketplace layer that builds deep loyalty, habitual usage, and long-term stickiness.

How ZerofyX Monetizes The Loyalty Marketplace

ZerofyX creates commercial value through multiple monetization levers across each loyalty marketplace transaction. These include:

These monetization levers provide a structured way for telcos to participate in everyday customer spending, while tying that value back to the telco bill.

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What Telco Leaders Can Measure with ZerofyX

ZerofyX, as a commercial channel, opens up a new set of KPIs that telcos can track, which satisfies the app and loyalty economics requirements:

These metrics help to track the economic impact and sustainability of this program. Bill linked rewards can create a stronger loyalty mechanic, but they still need relevant partners, simple redemption, clear economics, rigorous cohort tracking, and proof that it is bringing in commercial value.

Circles.Life Singapore Shows Promising Early Results

ZerofyX has been field tested by Circles own Circles.Life in Singapore. 

Customers can shop with partners through the Circles.Life app, earn cashback on eligible purchases, and apply that cashback towards their phone bill. Since launching ZerofyX:

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From Cost Reminder to Loyalty Moment

For telcos, the monthly bill is one of the most consistent customer touchpoints. Yet in most cases, it functions as a reminder of cost rather than a proof point of value.

Bill-linked rewards change that dynamic. When cashback or loyalty value is applied directly to the bill, the customer can see a tangible return from engaging with the telco app, partner marketplace, or rewards ecosystem. The bill becomes more than a payment obligation. It becomes a recurring moment where the operator can reinforce the value of the relationship.

For operators, ZerofyX creates a clearer link between app engagement, partner activity, loyalty behavior, and perceived customer value. It also gives telco leaders a set of commercial KPIs they can track, including repeat app visits, cashback redemption, bill-offset activity, partner transactions, and cohort-level movement in retention, ARPU, or CLTV.

The next phase of telco loyalty should therefore focus less on the volume of rewards offered and more on where the value is experienced. Rewards that sit outside the telco relationship can still be useful, but rewards that reduce the bill are more directly tied to a moment customers already notice.

This is the strategic role that ZerofyX can fill: turning the monthly bill from a cost reminder into a visible loyalty moment.