DUBAI: Dubai’s largest bank has launched a marketing campaign offering customers the chance to win Bentley cars or Breitling Aviator watches in a bid to encourage them to boost their savings.
The initiative by Emirates NBD follows a recent report showing the negative impact that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had on many bank balances.
Bank customers are being given the opportunity to win three luxury Bentley Bentayga SUVs and 75 Breitling Aviator 8 Chronographs as part of a marketing drive that will run until the end of May.
Existing customers with an average balance of at least 100,000 Emirati dirhams ($27,229) will get the chance to enter a draw to win a Bentley every time they increase their balance by 50,000 dirhams in a current or savings account or 100,000 dirhams in an online savings account or fixed deposit account during the length of the campaign.
Alternatively, new or existing customers with a balance of 25,000 dirhams and who boost their coffers by 5,000 dirhams could bag a Breitling Aviator 8 Chronograph.
“We are committed to making available exciting opportunities for our customers while also encouraging them to adopt good financial habits especially during these times of uncertainty,” said Suvo Sarkar, Emirates NBD’s senior executive vice president and group head of retail banking and wealth management.
The promotion comes in the wake of a survey last month which revealed that more than half of UAE residents said the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had negatively impacted their savings.
The research by wealth management company Quilter found that just 13 percent of respondents had increased their savings in 2020. More than a quarter (27 percent) said they had lost income so were unable to save, while 25 percent had saved less than in the previous year.
Brendan Dolan, global distribution director of Quilter International, said: “This research highlights how badly the pandemic has impacted people’s savings habits. Millions of people have experienced a fall in income and the economy suffered a huge economic shock when the UAE went into lockdown.
“It is therefore no surprise that more than half of people had to readjust their saving habits to cope in these unusual and difficult circumstances.”
Government investment company National Bonds has carried out its savings index since 2011. Its most recent results in 2019 showed that even before the COVID-19 pandemic some UAE residents were already struggling to save as much as they had hoped.
Its research found that just 23 percent of expats who moved to the UAE for savings purposes were positive about putting aside what they had budgeted for, while 68 percent of total respondents said they believed that it was becoming harder to save money each month.
“Perceived barriers to saving including expenses, loans, and a poor knowledge about savings instruments are drawbacks,” Mohammed Qasim Al-Ali, the CEO of National Bonds, said in May 2019.
