(19 November 2012)
Following its core belief in the importance of reinforcing healthy saving habits and in promoting financial literacy in the UAE, First Gulf Bank (FGB), a major leading financial institution in the UAE, launched its ‘FirstSavings’ certificate programme. The new scheme targets individuals, both UAE Residents and Nationals, that are 21 years old or above.
The ‘FirstSavings’ scheme, which is available in all major UAE exchange houses, offers a range of features that are meant to encourage customers to save, where certificates are available from a minimum purchase of AED 100. ‘FirstSavings’ features regular draws, which offer customers numerous chances of gaining cash prizes, with regular daily, monthly and quarterly draws. These prizes are split as follows: 5 prizes every day of AED 1,000 each, 1,961 prizes every month of up to AED 50,000 each, and 1 grand prize every quarter of AED 1 million. Chances of winning increase in two ways, by holding more certificates, and by holding the certificates for a longer duration.
Commenting on the launch, Huda Abdulla, Executive Vice President of Branch Distribution at FGB, said: “The launch of the FirstSavings Certificate stems from our interest in spreading a culture of saving among the UAE society as a whole. As banks, we have an important role in teaching people how to save for different causes, and we at First Gulf Bank have been successful in doing that through our multiple products encouraging our customers to enroll through very rewarding draw schemes. We have taken the issue of financial literacy to heart, and are working on promoting positive financial habits through our various innovative products and services, getting all UAE residents to benefit from our efforts.”
Joyseej Mukherjee, Head of Liabilities at FGB, said: “First Gulf Bank has been a pioneer in creating customer centric products and FirstSavings Certificates further strengthen our considerable range of deposit solutions that reward our customers for saving.”
He added: “The need to save and the dream to be rich are universal and shared by everyone in the UAE. This is our inspiration behind designing the FirstSavings Certificate which offers a large number of prizes and a guaranteed interest rate. Furthermore, our strategic tie up with major exchange houses gives us access to over 600 distribution points across the UAE making it extremely convenient for anyone to subscribe to the product.”
Over the last 6 months First Gulf Bank has brought a suite of innovative Deposit Products to the UAE market, each very well received by customers. These include AdvantagePlus – a fixed deposit that pays all of the interest as soon as the account is opened instead of at the end of the tenor and is very flexible, PowerUp – a Current account where interest rates escalate with balances and “ChildFirst” a saving programme which takes into consideration the rising costs of higher education, and provides a mechanism to aid parents in effective saving for education fees.
It’s worth mentioning that FGB had previously launched the Shariah Compliant Emirati Al Awwal Islamic Certificate for UAE nationals. The program provides UAE National customers with opportunities to win cash prizes, as it also offers regular draws on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis.