SINGAPORE, July 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- utu, the global travel-tech company headquartered in Singapore has crossed another milestone, partnering with one of the world-leading hospitality group, Accor, to further revolutionize tax-free shopping internationally with the world's first tax rewards in the form of reward points.

utu's partnership with Accor, one of the world's leading Hospitality Group, fully integrates the utu platform with ALL - Accor Live Limitless – a daily lifestyle companion that provides meaningful experiences and rewards to its most engaged customers. The integration with ALL means that for every US$100 worth of VAT refund, customers can now convert it into 5,000 ALL points. ALL points can then be redeemed for hotel stays or dining at all of Accor's food and beverage outlets or any partner benefits that ALL has to offer.

From today, travellers using utu and ALL can enjoy higher tax refunds by simply downloading the utu Tax Free mobile app, registering and activating the utu Tax Free Card and selecting ALL as their choice of refund method. Travellers can then enjoy amazing overseas shopping whether they are in Paris, Italy or Dubai. All that the members only need is to simply provide their utu Tax Free Card number when selecting where to send the refund.

The new partnership extends utu's reach to ALL members world-wide while now for the first time, ALL members can enjoy the utu tax refund service in any of the 50 countries where VAT or GST refunds are offered including Singapore, France, Italy, Germany, South Korea, Thailand, and the UAE.

"This new partnership allows utu Tax free members and members of Accor's loyalty program, ALL - Accor Live Limitless, to convert their VAT refund into ALL points using the utu Tax free card, offering them a much higher earn in ALL points for all their VAT refunds that the travel-shoppers can use to enjoy the world class benefits and offers from Accor extended to their ALL members. Accor has highest footprint in Europe and Middle East. These two regions contribute more than 80% of global VAT refunds." explained utu CEO Asad Jumabhoy.

Mehdi Hemici, Accor Chief Loyalty and Partnerships Officer said 'Loyalty remains front and center of our strategy and our latest utu partnership is further testament that we are expanding in new territories. This latest tax-free benefit reflects our strategy to reward our best customers in new ways as they spend in retail outlets over 50 international markets. As the world reopens, we will ensure that the breadth of the ALL offering is as accessible as possible'.

For more information, visit www.utu.global

About utu

utu (utu Pte Ltd) is transforming tax-free shopping worldwide by empowering travellers with the freedom to obtain a higher VAT refund, something they have been unable to do until now. utu goes beyond digitizing refunds to re-engineer the tax-free shopping value chain, eliminating the impact of high fees levied on shoppers.

The utu management team has deep domain knowledge in tax-free shopping developed over 25 years refunding VAT and GST worldwide. By bringing the worlds of refunds and rewards together, utu unlocks new value in the form of rewards from retailers, airlines, hotels and others. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Singapore, utu's products can be used in over 50 countries.