BankBulb Monthly Recap Report_December 2022

DIGITAL, INNOVATION & CX

Crédit Agricole lands in Fortnite to teach players about financial management (France)

To help educate gamers - primarily teenagers and young adults - on budgeting and financial management Crédit Agricole has set up on Fortnite. The concept behind the initiative is that in life, as in video games, good management of resources - money, ammunition, food, etc. - is often the critical winning strategy. But, learning to manage one's resource and budget effectively can quickly seem like an apocalyptic scenario! Rent, coffee with friends, data packages, transport costs and other financial demands can feel like your bank balance is being attacked by successive waves of zombies! So, to help gamers discover and learn the right balance, Crédit Agricole has set up on Fortnite over the weekend of December 9-11, with the #GereTaZone challenge. With this challenge, players will need to implement the best strategy to succeed in their mission: protect their budget. It will be necessary to make the right choices to stem expenses which will come at them thick and fast.

BankBulb opinion: Banks working through video games and gamification to try and engage the audience, particularly on topics of financial wellness have been highlighted many times on BankBulb (some examples below) over the last decade or so, but it is tricky to get right. But, it can produce impressive results and should certainly continue to be an avenue for banks to continue to test.

• DBS (Singapore - 2020) recreates Zouk nightclub on multiplayer game Fortnite to help promote Live Fresh Visa card to clubbers and gamers

• Truist (USA - 2022) acquires savings gamification app in move to engage millennials and Gen-Z, drive deposits and encourage financial education

• Ally (USA - 2021) run augmented reality (AR) game to teach players how their money can work harder for them

• ZA Bank (Hong Kong - 2020) turns banking app usage and tasks into a mobile gaming experience for customers to earn rewards

• BMO (Canada - 2022) becomes the first bank to launch Twitch channel helping Gamers level-up in gaming and their finances

• DBS (Singapore - 2022) running online gaming competition to promote cashless payments and financial literacy

• Ally (USA - 2020) leans into gamification to combat falling financial literacy rates

Santander launches pilot bank card recycling scheme (UK)

Santander has launched a pilot recycling scheme for debit and credit cards at 28 branches with the introduction of self-service machines that will allow users to recycle their unused or expired plastic cards. Use of the specialised machines will be free and can be used by anyone - not just Santander customers. The pilot is expected to last six months and will see the cards recycled into plastic pellets so that they can be reused. Debit and credit cards can take hundreds of years to break down after going to landfill since they are often made with several layers of plastic, metal oxide particles, a magnetic strip, solvents and inks, Santander has said.

Fermin Martinez de Hurtado Yela, head of sustainability and responsible banking at Santander UK, said to the PA News Agency: “Bank cards are traditionally very difficult to recycle.

“With 92 million debit cards and 60 million credit cards currently in UK circulation, it is a significant challenge and one that we want to play our part in helping.”

DIGITAL, INNOVATION & CX

(USA)

We've been highlighting PNC's Christmas Price Index® on and off since 2012 (last reported on in 2019). As the Index is a lighthearted take on the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) Consumer Price Index, measuring the average change in prices consumers, frankly not much has changed in the last decade...until this year! PNC’s Christmas Price Index (CPI) is based on the price of the gifts in the classic holiday carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" grew by 10.5% in 2022, the third highest year-overyear increase in history of PNC’s whimsical holiday tradition, which started 39 years ago. The overall cost to buy all 12 gifts in the song is a record $45,523.27 in 2022.

“True Love’s shopping tab reflects what’s happening in the broader economy this year as commodity and energy prices, along with supply chain disruptions, have driven the cost of goods and services up,” said Amanda Agati, chief investment officer for the PNC Asset Management Group.

The cost of all 12 gifts is reported on PNC's interactive website, which is meant to be as fun as it is educational, with teachers and parents able to download the Christmas Price Index Activity Book to teach children about money and the economy in a fun way.

TSB has set up a fund that will financially support people fleeing abusive relationships.

People will be able to get support payments of between £50 and £500, depending on their needs, which will be paid into an account that only the claimant can access. The payments will be based on individual needs and will assist people with the cost of essentials such as travel, clothing and toiletries, which they may need having left a property shared with an abuser.

People can request support by visiting a TSB branch. The bank said branch staff have received specialist training in supporting people experiencing domestic abuse.

The scheme has been developed in partnership with domestic abuse charities, including Women's Aid.

According to the charity Surviving Economic Abuse, 95% of domestic abuse cases include a form of economic abuse. One of the most common forms involves victims being prevented from maintaining their own economic resources.

TSB also has a "safe spaces" initiative in place, for anyone needing support and to sit safely and securely to visit.

PNC’s Christmas Price Index® calculating the cost of Christmas unsurprisingly soars this year

TSB launch emergency flee fund offering up to £500 for domestic abuse victims (UK)

PERSONAL BANKING DIGITAL, INNOVATION & CX

Huntington Bank collaborate with MagnusCards to make banking easier for autistic and neurodiverse people (USA)

In June 2021, we reported on M&T Bank becoming the first US bank to launch MagnusCards to support customers with autism, cognitive and intellectual disabilities. Now Huntington Bank has announced their collaboration with MagnusCards by Magnusmode The free app provides digital, step-by-step visual guides in the form of Card Decks to make everyday experiences easier to navigate for autistic and neurodiverse people.

Each digital Card Deck combines educational methods, visual instruction, personal assistance from Magnusmode, and realistic scenarios to support inclusive and independent living.

Huntington's new digital MagnusCard Card Decks are free to users and can be found on the MagnusCards mobile app. The Card Decks include visual, text, and audio instructions to help users better understand how to perform standard banking services, such as using an ATM, depositing a check via a mobile app, opening a checking account online, and making purchases with a debit card at a retailer.

Two Huntington Bank colleagues are featured demonstrating step-by-step instructions in the guides. Both employees joined Huntington through the bank's Autism2Work program, which provides workforce training and employment opportunities for adults with autism.

Magnusmode was founded by Nadia Hamilton, who was inspired by her autistic brother to create a method of teaching essential life skills when he needed extra help to complete everyday tasks. She drew step-by-step guides that allowed him to follow along and re-enact activities.

CommBank

CommBank's CallerCheck allows customers to verify whether a caller claiming to be from CommBank is legitimate. It can be used for identification on calls customers make to the bank as well as calls the bank makes to customers. For calls that customers receive, all they need to do is ask the caller to use CallerCheck to verify their identity. CallerCheck will then send a notification directly to their CommBank app. After customers click on the notification, they’ll be taken to the homepage of their CommBank app and asked to log in. Once logged in, they click on the message asking them to verify the call and follow the prompts to verify the call.

Similarly, when customers make a call to CommBank from their mobile or landline, CommBank may use this feature to confirm that they are speaking with the real customer.

If customers receive a notification but haven’t made a call to or received a call from the bank, they can select ‘No’ or ‘No I didn’t get a call’ so they can then get in touch with the bank's Fraud team.

CallerCheck ensures customers know whether a received call is legitimately from the bank (Australia)

PERSONAL BANKING DIGITAL, INNOVATION & CX

Lloyds

IDFC FIRST Bank has launched FIRSTAP, the country's first stickerbased debit card, in association with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), to facilitate transactions by simply tapping the sticker on a Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled point-of-sale terminal.

The sticker-based Debit Card is one third the size of a regular debit card, thus making the sticker applicable on a wide range of devices and objects, and significantly enhancing customer convenience.

Customers can affix the Sticker-based Debit Card on any surface of their choice, such as cell phones, identity cards, wallets, tabs, airpod cases, etc. The object can be used to tap and pay, thus doing away with the need to carry a Debit Card or adapting to wearable devices such as watches and rings or entering a UPI PIN after scanning a QR code.

The touch-free way to pay enables payments in seconds for transactions up to Rs. 5,000 without a PIN, and those beyond that, with a tap and PIN. Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Sumit Madan, Head – Retail Liabilities and Branch Banking, IDFC FIRST Bank, said, "The launch of Sticker-based Debit Card is in line with the Bank's customer- centric philosophy. The number of transactions being carried out via contactless cards are growing fast. As a customer-first bank, we are committed to using contactless technology for frictionless digital transactions. With Sticker as the form factor in the wearable category, the debit card is convenient to carry around and enables fast checkout. There are multiple use cases for this form factor, and we are very confident of the uptake."

Lloyds Bank is advertising their upcoming virtual event taking place on December 15 focused on the Cost of Living crisis.

The free 45-minute webinar features the bank's panel of experts to answer any questions attendees may have. Both Lloyds Bank customers and non-customers can join.

The bank typically uses webinars for small business guidance.

2022

Considering the personal nature of money concerns, the amount of resource and content already available to people it is very hard to predict who and why people will attend.

Up, for a second year, is enabling customers to run their version of a personalised annual report, giving them an easy way to take a look back at how they spent and saved over the course of the year. The 'UpYear2022' simply requires customers once logged in to their Up app to look at their activity feed. When they then tap on the UpYear activity item the review is revealed to them. The overall intention of the #UpYear2022 review is to give customers the ability to better understand their spending and therefore help put themselves in a position to upgrade their financial health in 2023.

IDFC FIRST Bank launches sticker-based debit card, one third the size of a regular card (India)

This IDFC FIRST Bank Sticker debit card comes with a complimentary personal accidental cover and 24/7 concierge services with a host of RuPay offers

Bank hold online Q&A free to anyone wishing to learn about navigating the cost of living (UK)

Ad running on Facebook from December 12,

Up reveal every customer's spending and saving for the year available in their personalised reports (Australia)

DIGITAL, INNOVATION & CX

(UK)

The UK's top banks have clubbed together to pay for the development of shared banking hubs across the country.

The nine banks - Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest Group, Santander, Virgin Money, Danske Bank and TSB - have incorporated an independent non-profit company, Cash Access UK, to provide cash access, deposit and basic banking services where they are needed, across the UK.

David Postings, chief executive of UK Finance, says: "While many people are now opting to manage their money digitally, we want to ensure that people can continue to access cash and do their banking face to face too. The creation of Cash Access UK Ltd is an important step towards a network of banking hubs across the country.

"So far 29 hubs have been announced and the industry is fully behind getting these up and running as quickly as possible."

The new comes a week after the Bank of England outlined new measures to underpin retail access to cash for businesses and individuals under new powers granted in the Financial Services and Market Bill.

livi Bank launch ability for customers to purchase home insurance via their app (Hong Kong)

livi bank and FWD General Insurance have jointly launched the ability for livi customers to get comprehensive home insurance coverage, from within the livi app. Called Easy HomeCase, livi customers can now go to the Insurance tab and select Easy HomeCare.

The new in-app way of selecting their home protection along with a simple application through the livi App follows a survey of livi’s customers that revealed just 28% had home insurance, while over 70% of respondents said they are looking to purchase home insurance plans online.

New customers will benefit from a 10% discount launch offer.

Bank of New Zealand customers with a Spark or Skinny mobile data connection won’t have to worry about data charges when using BNZ banking services.

The partnership between BNZ and Spark means customers can use the BNZ app, BNZ online banking or the BNZ website without incurring data charges or using the data limit on their Spark or Skinny mobile plan in New Zealand.

BNZ is the first bank to offer mobile banking free of data costs in New Zealand, and Spark is the third telco to join BNZ’s free mobile data initiative. Together, BNZ’s partnerships with Spark, Vodafone (read our report from January 2022 here) and 2Degrees (read our report from April 2022 here) covers the vast majority of mobile customers across New Zealand.

“We are delighted to bring comprehensive and competitive home insurance protection to the local insurance market together with FWD General Insurance as we further expand our general insurance offering. With the simple and user-friendly interface of the livi App, customers can apply for Easy HomeCare with three simple steps in just two minutes in a fully automated and seamless customer journey,” said livi Chief Product Officer Carol Hung.

UK banks formalise commitment to expand rollout of shared branches

BankBulb note: This news follows our report from May 2021 describing a pilot initiative from five of the banks (NatWest, Lloyds Bank, Barclays, HSBC, Santander) to share a branch with each bank taking over banking operations at the branch one day of the week.

BNZ adds Spark to its roster of telcos through which customers have no data costs when using BNZ banking services (New Zealand)

DIGITAL, INNOVATION & CX

CommBank launch credit score hub for customers to see their score and personalised credit report (Australia)

Commonwealth Bank has announced that customers will now be able to easily view and access their Experian credit score and personalised credit report, free of charge via the CommBank app and NetBank.

The credit score hub provides customers with information about:

• their individual credit score and their score tier

• credit accounts and repayments over the last 24 months

• credit applications

• reported negative credit events

CommBank's Executive General Manager Consumer Finance, Marcos Meneguzzo, says “The new credit score hub makes it easy for customers to monitor their credit file and understand the drivers impacting their score, quickly and easily from the palm of their hand." The facility has come about through partnering with Credit Savvy, backed by CBA’s x15ventures, as well as Experian, one of Australia’s official credit reporting bodies.

“The new hub enables CommBank customers to get to know their credit score, what it is and how it’s made up. For those customers who would like to put a block on future credit applications and prevent from potential fraud or scam, Credit Savvy offers its SavvyShield feature,” Mr. Meneguzzo said.

According to CBA’s research, around a third of Australians (34 per cent) are either unsure of what a credit score is or have never heard of the term.

“Contrary to popular belief, checking your credit score does not impact it negatively. In fact, knowing your credit score can better empower customers to understand their overall credit worthiness and take steps to improve it. In addition, they can monitor their score and credit applications to protect themselves from fraud and scams,” Mr Meneguzzo added.

OCBC's

lifestyle and banking space shows impressive results for credit card and loans acquisition (Singapore)

OCBC Bank has opened its second-largest branch at Wisma Atria, a 20,000 sq ft lifestyle and banking space that features six retail and F&B partners.

A third of the branch’s floor area is dedicated to retail, featuring homeware from SCENE SHANG, lifestyle products from Crane Living and over 5,000 titles by Malaysian bookstore chain BookXcess

The Wisma Atria branch also features Orange Mocha Café, artworks by Art Porters Gallery and Sushi Moka, a 10-seater omakase restaurant.

The bank’s relationship managers can meet with personal banking customers across five open pods and seven enclosed rooms. The new branch also boasts nine meeting rooms for its premier banking clients.

Early results: The branch soft launched in August with OCBC now saying that monthly applications for credit cards at Wisma Atria have been five times higher than that of an average branch. The value of monthly personal loans disbursed at the branch, too, has been 1.5 times higher.

According to OCBC, monthly wealth income from the Wisma branch is 30% higher than the monthly wealth income from its former Orchard Gateway branch, a 10,000 sq ft space that closed in August. Watch the introductory video here.

Snapshot of 'Check your credit score' webpage

new

BANKING DIGITAL, INNOVATION & CX

Westpac debit and credit card customers can now get bonus cashback offers via a dedicated Westpac hub in the ShopBack app and website.

The ShopBack Group was founded in 2014 and has operated in Australia since 2018, with more than two million Australians registered to get cashback for shopping online at more than 3,000 participating retailers.

ShopBack currently has more that two million Australians registered to get cashback for shopping online at about 3,000 participating retailers.

In the lead up to Black Friday, Boursorama Banque is running the below advertising messaging for their offers program 'The Corner', introduced in 2020.

Westpac customers can access money back offers after making a purchase via the ShopBack website or app. The cashback is credited by ShopBack to a customer’s ShopBack account and can be used to make purchases or can be eligible for transfer to their bank account.

“This is an exciting step in providing our customers with access to exclusive online deals and helping them get more for their money at a time when budgeting is high on the agenda,” said Steve Rubenstein, Westpac Managing Director, Consumer Finance. “We know the ShopBack partnership will appeal to younger Australians who are savvy with managing their money and want more offers from their bank.

Print ad in 20 Minutes on 24 November 2022

The Corner, which bank deposit customers can access online or via the app, has over 90 participating brands and retailers. Depending on the brand customers can get:

• Immediate discount: By clicking on Take advantage of the offer, they are redirected to the merchant site and the discount is applied automatically.

• Cashback : By clicking on Take advantage of the offer, customers are redirected to the merchant site. The cashback on purchases then appears in the customer's account within 24 hours.

BankBulb note: This Westpac news follows ANZ's purchase of the Cashrewards platform - which is similar to ShopBack - earlier this year. ANZ Cashrewards offers members cash back on every purchase from their partnering retailers. As we reported in September ANZ ran an advertising campaign promoting Cashrewards and subsequently integrated both Cashrewards and ANZ Instalment Plans within the ANZ App.

• Voucher: Customers can access a voucher on The Corner with a discount code. They can download the voucher and use it on a retailer's website or in-store.

Westpac customers get exclusive cashback offers in the ShopBack app and website (Australia)

Boursorama Banque reminds people that with their cashback program every day is like Black Friday (France)

ASB has updated their app to include a new card tracker mobile app feature which helps customers keep on top of where their ASB Visa credit and debit card details are being stored and how they’re being used.

Called Card Tracker, the features - in its first phaseenables customers to review recurrent subscriptions and one-off card payments made over the Visa network. Customers wanting to query or cancel a subscription will need to contact their subscription provider directly, however, ASB has plans to add in-app subscription management in a future enhancement.

ASB customer research has shown one in five subscription holders are paying for services they don’t use and close to a third spend more than $100 on rolling subscription costs each month. “As more of our life moves online, from entertainment to how we find love, it’s harder to stay on top of the services we pay for – in fact our research told us only 17% of customers confidently know how many companies are storing their card details. The card tracker feature helps solve this problem, giving customers greater transparency and control over their spending and making it easier to identify any potentially fraudulent transactions,” says ASB Tribe Lead for Everyday Money, Micheal Maclean. “If it’s out of sight, it can be out of mind, but by giving customers an easy snapshot of where their card is being stored and how it’s being used, we’re making it easier to pinpoint any forgotten or unwanted spend. With rising costs a clear concern for New Zealanders, this is another practical way we’re providing customers with easy ways to boost their financial wellbeing.”

ASB posting on Facebook on 13 December 2022

The Bank of China (Hong Kong) has launched a new digital yuan experience in Hong Kong for customers to use their local mobile phone number to set up an e-CNY wallet on a special app developed by the bank.

To encourage sign-ups for the wallet, customers registering for the campaign between December 12-29th will receive 100 e-CNY ($14.30). worth of red packet rewards, which can be spent in offline and certain online shops in the mainland and some U Select supermarkets in Hong Kong.

Chen Guang, BOCHK, said, “BOCHK has been supporting the mainland and Hong Kong regulators in conducting technical testing of e-CNY. The launch of this e-CNY exclusive experience programme will help prove that e-CNY is technically feasible in Hong Kong in the initial stage. BOCHK will provide HKD clearing and settlement services to local merchants and facilitate the acceptance of e-CNY as a payment option under the programme, which serves as a trial for the future use of e-CNY in retail transactions by mainland visitors in Hong Kong. It also allows local customers to use e-CNY for payments on designated mainland e-commerce platforms.

Since the e-CNY initiative kicked off in 2019, the digital yuan an electronic version of the nation’s yuan currency issued by the central bank has been launched in 23 mainland cities. The number of transactions in the digital yuan totaled 360 million, with the value reaching about 100 billion yuan, as of Aug 31, according to the latest data from PBOC.

Customers can tap “Register Now” and follow the steps to complete registration

ASB unveils in-app card tracker feature for customers to review recurrent subscriptions and one-off card payment (New Zealand)

Bank of China (Hong Kong) offers e-CNY experience serving as trial for future use of e-CNY in retail transactions

BANKING

Virgin Money invest in new campaign to promote Lock Saver feature on savings account (Australia)

Virgin Money Australia has released a campaign highlighting their ‘Lock Saver’ feature that was introduced in mid-2022 (read our original report here).

The Lock Saver is a feature that customers can turn on in their app, locking away funds in their savings account(s) that they don’t potentially need instant access to. Those "locked" funds then earn bonus interest. To access your funds again, you just need to give 32 days notice. The features also helps take away the temptation of dipping into the funds and helps customers stay on track for big goals like savings for a house or a car.

Since Virgin Money introduced the feature, similar ones have been introduced by Up (read our report here) and Suncorp in October which they call 'flexiRates' (read our report here). In the UK, this same feature was launched by neobank, Zopa in February 2022, and called the Smart Saver account The account has proved successful for Zopa, attracting £850million in the first 7 months from launch. We predict that more banks will begin to offer similar in-app 'locked saver' features over the next 1218 months.

Until now, Virgin Money has run two digital campaigns focused on the 'Lock Saver' that we've highlighted The new campaign will run across Cinema, OOH, YouTube, social media and digital display until 31st Jan 2023. Inspired by iconic British 90s gangster movies, the campaign introduces Peggy ‘The Lock Saver’ Jones. – a mildly menacing London gangster, who rules with tough love – she’ll not only lock your cash away, but also lock you in a smokin’ hot deal to help you reach your savings goals.

Mark Hunter, chief marketing officer of BOQ Group (of which Virgin Money Australia is a part) commented: “A really smart product and a strong insight laid the foundation for an entertaining creative approach that doesn’t feel like a finance ad. W e’re entering a very exciting new era for Virgin Money Australia.”

Watch the VMA Lock, Stock & Smoking Hot Savings spot here

As shown in the below right ad, IDFC First Bank has waived off fees on 25 commonly-used banking services related to savings accounts such as cash deposit and withdrawal at branches, third-party cash transactions, demand drafts, immediate payment As service (IMPS), National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT), Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), cheque book, SMS alerts, interest certificates, insufficient balance for ATM transactions, international ATM usage and so on, according to a statement from the bank.

Even customers maintaining as low as Rs 10,000 as average monthly balance (AMB), as well as the Rs 25,000 AMB savings account variant will enjoy these benefits.

"This is a customer friendly initiative from IDFC First Bank. Often, customers are unaware of the fees and charges they pay. This is even more so for customers with lesser financial literacy levels. So, we have waived fees on 25 commonly used banking services so that our customers can bank with us at peace," Mr. V Vaidyanathan, Managing Director and CEO, IDFC First Bank, said.

Most of these services have been offered free by the Bank for the past four years, but have been formalised under the Zero-Fee Banking program as part of this announcement.

IDFC First Bank announces zero-free banking for 25 commonly used services in savings accounts (India)

DEPOSITS & EVERYDAY BANKING

HSBC stress their international presence as distinguishing factor for globallyminded Indians (India)

HSBC has always highlighted a global presence, for example through its airport advertising, but in reality for retail banking customers there was no practical benefits. The bank is now actively working to better integrate and provide a more connected global offering to retail banking customers, and as part of this intent, is increasingly pushing this global message. The latest example of this is the below campaign running in India for HSBC Premier. The ad points to three reasons that affluent Indians with a global mindset should switch to HSBC:

1. "One account: 64 countries/territories, global recognition". This means that the customer's Premier status is recognized worldwide, with access to Premier banking services in all markets with HSBC presence.

2. "HSBC Wealth Services. Give your wealth goals a global upgrade." This means customers can access the bank's International Wealth Hubs.

3. "Global money transfers." Customers can use HSBC Global Money Transfers to send money abroad from India to over 200+ countries/territories.

Standard Chartered promote their first-ofits-kind affluent deposit account (Singapore)

In late September Standard Chartered Bank Singapore launched their new Wealth $aver account, the first deposit account in Singapore that accords interest based on total existing Asset Under Management (AUM) from total deposit, investment and insurance products held with the bank.

Headline benefits of the account, aimed at Priority Banking customers, are up to 3.50% p.a. interest on the first SGD500,0000 of deposit balance with no lock-in period and no spend criteria, unlimited 1% cash back on card transactions and the ability to transact in 14 currencies ​​​​​from the account with zero overseas transaction fees.

Customers need to maintain a minimum S$200,000 for Priority Banking status, for which they automatically qualify for the 1% interest rate on the first S$500,000. For AUM of S$1.5 million and above, customers automatically unlock 2% p.a. on the first S$500,000. Customers can then earn an additional 1.5% with new purchase of eligible investments or insurance as part of a Wealth Booster promo.

The Wealth $aver account proposition came about from research with over 200 affluent individuals in Singapore revealing that 83% are attracted by high interest rates and a straightforward proposition that offers more value. Consequently the aim of Wealth $aver is to remove the complexity out of the rewards programme and enable clients to achieve high interest rates without having to fulfil different tiered-rate criteria. The base interest rate is essentially calculated based on their total AUM with the bank.

As shown in this advertorial in The Business Times on 7 Dec. 2022, as part of the Wealth Booster promotion, clients will get an additional 1.50% bonus interest for 6 months on their average daily balance, taking the total to 5%. The offer runs until 31 January 2023.

Results Update: In the first three weeks following the account launch, the bank received over $300 million in balances in Wealth $aver accounts opened.

Advertorial

& EVERYDAY BANKING

Starling enables friends and family to transfer money to a child's account with KiteLink (UK)

Starling has introduced a way to make it easier for trusted friends and family to transfer money straight to a child's Starling Kite account. Called KiteLink, parents can now create a unique link by opening their Kite Space in the Starling app and tapping KiteLink They can then send the link via text, email or in a messaging app, such as WhatsApp. They can also deactivate the link at any time.

When a family member or friend receives the KiteLink, they can use it to transfer money straight into the child’s Kite Space. If they’re a Starling customer, the link will take them to their own Starling app so they can make the payment. If they’re not a Starling customer, they’ll be directed to a secure webpage on their phone where they can type in their card details or make a payment using their digital wallet, for example through Apple Pay.

The benefits of KiteLink:

• Fast: It only takes a few taps to send the link, and a few taps more to send the money. No more cheques or waiting for cash in the post.

• Secure: Safer and more convenient than sending cash by post. Plus, parents can switch the link on or off in their app, which means they’re in control of when people can send money.

• Clear: Parents will receive an instant phone notification when money is added to the child's Kite Space (account), and so will the child.

Once the money has arrived, the child can use their Kite card to buy something they love or keep the money in their Space until they have enough for whatever they’ve been saving up for.

Jupiter has introduced a new checking account option called the On Demand Salary account. The account allows customers to instantly withdraw their partial salary before salary day with no interest charges. Specifically, the amount of salary available for withdrawal is calculated based on the number of days the customer has worked, any day of the month.

To open a Salary account, customers must have a minimum monthly salary of ₹25,000 which must be directly deposited into the account by an employer. There are no charges for the account and it is a zero-balance account. There are no charges on UPI/NEFT/RTGS transactions.

In addition to the early salary feature, customers can also unlock complementary health insurance and earn 1% rewards on all Jupiter debit card and select UPI spend.

To promote the account a new advertising campaign is running with a "What planet are you from?" theme to emphasize the revolutionary aspect of the On Demand Salary product. In two spots, friends are chatting with one then explaining to the other how they are going to afford to buy - a holiday to Goa in one spot, and a dress in the other spot - by using the On Demand Salary feature to get access to their money sooner.

Jupiter introduce On-Demand Salary account to turn any day into salary-day (India)

PERSONAL BANKING CARDS

(Hong Kong)

HSBC is running a second credit card campaign this year that is based on an immersive world built within Minecraft. The new campaign “WINTERverse” contains virtual rewards for participants to earn and redeem in the real world. The WINTERverse follows on from the SUMMERverse campaign, which saw HSBC's initial foray into the metaverse on the same Minecraft platform – both utilising a “play-to-earn” approach where participants can turn their virtual experience into exclusive real-life offers.

Bridging the virtual and the real world, all the incentives in the "WINTERverse" translate into reality and include the introduction of characters such as Tam Jai, Tam Jai Sam Gor and MaskOn Cardholders can follow the campaign mechanics to visit Partner shops within the "WINTERverse" to complete designated challenges and win prizes which can be redeemed when completing transactions using their HSBC credit card at real-world outlets.

Expanding the initial ”SUMMERverse” map from Tsim Sha Tsui to Causeway Bay, players can travel back and forth between the two locations using public transportation as they would in the real world. After accumulating three completed quests in the “WINTERverse” players will be eligible to join a lucky draw for even bigger rewards. Along with the refreshed look and enhanced functionalities introduced in the HSBC Reward+ app, entry to the "WINTERverse" is tied to a new notification feature, which enables cardholders to receive a bespoke invitation link to the experience.

The cashback card with a name (Cash/Back Card) and percentage (1.67%) that pays homage to the Fifth Third Bank name is being promoted in the leadup to the holiday season with a new elevated cashback rate for gas fill ups.

Launched in late 2020, the Fifth Third 1.67% Cash/Back Card earns unlimited 1.67% cash back on purchases with no rotating categories and no annual fee along with no expiration date for rewards. There’s also no minimum required to redeem cash back, and cash back can be deposited directly into the cardholder's Fifth Third Bank checking account. Running until December 31, 2022, cardholders can now earn 5.3% back on gas purchases. Existing cardholders will enjoy this elevated earning rate through December 31, 2022. However, for new applications by that date, new customers have access to 5.3% back on gas for 90 days from the account opening date.

HSBC credit card campaign “WINTERverse” is built within Minecraft with rewards for participants to earn then redeem in real world

Ad running on Facebook

Snapshot of campaign landing page

The campaign has gained momentum since its launch, reaching six figures in players within four weeks.

Fifth Third Bank elevate their 1.67% cashback rate to 5.3% on gas purchases for limited time (USA)

UOB offset household electricity carbon emissions for UOB EVOL cardholders (Singapore)

UOB EVOL cardholders will now be able to offset 100% or more of their household electricity carbon footprint for free when they charge SP Group’s (SP) utilities bills to their credit card. With this new feature, when customers charge SP utilities bills to their UOB EVOL card, UOB will fund and contribute 2% of the billed amount to purchase 'My Green Credits' on the SP app on behalf of the customer. My Green Credits is a way for customers to get on the sustainability movement by greening their energy consumption through the purchase the amount of ‘green credits’ in the form of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). For example, when customers “charge a $90 utilities bill to their UOB EVOL card, they will receive $1.80 worth of complimentary My Green Credits from UOB, equivalent to 2% of the billed amount.”

My Green Credits is “purchased at a cost of S$0.12 per 25 kWh, which will translate to offsetting 375 kWh (kilowatt hour) or equivalent to an average national 4-room HDB flat’s electricity usage.” This is equivalent “to offsetting 100 per cent of the home’s electricity carbon footprint.

New UOB EVOL cardmembers paying their SP bills via the SP app will automatically enjoy the complimentary My Green Credits, while existing cardholders who are using the SP app to pay their bills before 10 November 2022 will simply need to do a one-time re-add of their EVOL card as a payment method to be eligible.

UOB EVOL card is the first in the market to partner with SP Group, Singapore’s national grid operator.

The UOB EVOL Card is Southeast Asia’s first credit card to use biosourced materials to minimise ecological footprint. The EVOL Card is made of 84 percent polylactic acid (PLA) and created from renewable sources which are safe for incineration process.

Jacquelyn Tan, Head of Group Personal Financial Services, UOB, said: “We understand that every customer has unique needs, preferences and goals, and this drives us to do right by them, to serve them in a way that meets their needs. Our wide suite of credit cards provides a comprehensive range of benefits and rewards to cater to different groups of customers on their differing needs. Through our partnership with SP, we are happy to further support the younger generation’s sustainability goals with our UOB EVOL card. This also shows UOB’s commitment towards sustainability, as we empower customers to work with us to tackle climate change and to forge a more sustainable future together.”

FNB advertise exact amount of cashback versus cashback percentage on gas/petrol fill- ups (South Africa)

We typically see cashback on credit card spend expressed as a percentage, so this new FNB digital add caught our attention as it tells people the actual amount they will receive per litre of fuel.

We don't know whether percentage or amount would excite customers the most, but certainly worth researching.

CARDS

The OCBC Cashflow Credit Card was renamed the OCBC NXT Card on 15 November 2022. There is no major change to the benefits but OCBC is taking marking the change with an advertising push. The OCBC NXT Card automatically splits cardholder transactions into monthly interest-free instalments with payments split across 3 months for transactions between S$100 and S$1,000 or across 6 months for transactions equal to or greater than S$1,000.

The card also earns cashback of 0.5% for monthly bills of less than S$1,000 and 1% cash rebates for monthly bill equal or greater than S$1,000 (capped at S$100 a month).

Snapshot from product webpage

Axis Bank and Flipkart, India’s an e-commerce marketplace leader, have partnered to launch the ‘Super Elite Credit Card’. The new card follows the original Axis Bank-Flipkart credit card reaching three million customers.

In an effort to scale the Flipkart SuperCoins reward programme and enhance the customer shopping experience, the Super Elite Credit Card will offer an activation benefit of 500 Flipkart SuperCoins with 4X SuperCoins earned for every transaction and rewards up to Rs 20,000 across Flipkart, Myntra, Flipkart Health+, Cleartrip, and Flipkart Hotels.

SuperCoins are rewards that customers can earn on each purchase across the Flipkart, Myntra and Cleartrip.

With the Flipkart Axis Bank Super Elite Credit Card, customers on Flipkart can earn a total of 8 SuperCoins for every Rs 100 spent and a maximum of 200 SuperCoins can be earned on every successful transaction. Flipkart Plus customers earn a total of 16 SuperCoins for every Rs 100 spent and they can earn a maximum of 400 SuperCoins on every successful transaction on Flipkart. For all other transactions outside of Flipkart, customers will earn two SuperCoins with no upper limit for every Rs 100 spent on all eligible spends.

The Flipkart Axis Bank Super Elite Credit Card brings all of these benefits to the customers at an annual fee of Rs 500, which is waived off on an annual expense of Rs 2 lakhs on the card.

OCBC highlight their NXT Card that automatically splits transactions into interest free instalments (Singapore)

Axis Bank and Flipkart launch ‘Flipkart Axis Bank Super Elite’ credit card with focus on SuperCoins rewards program (India)

CARDS

BEA

The Bank of East Asia (BEA) and AIA Hong Kong new BEA AIA credit card is intended to promote healthy living through various Wellness spending rewards by turning eligible spending into a range of privileges and offers.

Running through the end of the year, CIMB is presenting select credit card customers the ability to convert payments from RM500 to RM50,0000 into monthly instalments over 12 months at 0% interest.

The offer is only available to customers who receive an SMS from CIMB as an invitation to participate in the campaign.

The card's privileges and offers include insurance premium spending offer:

• Cardholders who settle the premiums of AIA Hong Kong insurance policies with the card get unlimited Bonus Points reward (HK$1 = 1 Bonus Point) and up to an 86-day interest free repayment period.

• For insurance payments, customers can apply for a flexible premium instalment plan, at a monthly flat rate of 0.165% (3.78% APR).

• Wellness spending rewards:

• Earn unlimited 3X Bonus Points for making healthy lifestyle choices when spending at designated merchants, which span a wide range of medical service providers, as well as Live Well, and green and healthy merchants.

The card has no annual fee and offers priority booking for concert tickets - but this is where it gets strange for a health-related card - it also offers and 12% cash back on fast food, bakeries, coffee shops, plus local transport.

Ms Shirley Wong, General Manager and Head of Personal Banking, BEA, said, “Our partnership with AIA Hong Kong has commenced over a year ago and we have since seen promising results, recently expanding the distribution of AIA’s products from life to general insurance. Today, we further strengthen this partnership by launching a co-branded credit card that delivers great value and incentives for both BEA and AIA’s customers to adopt a healthy lifestyle.”

New BEA AIA

Credit Card can choose to receive a complimentary selected medical check-up plan (worth up to HK$700) or a HK$300 cash rebate.

If the Flexi Payment Plan Monthly Instalment is not paid for three consecutive months, CIMB may terminate the Flexi Payment Plan with the unpaid amount reverting to standard credit card terms with the applicable finance charges, accrued interest and any late payment charges payable.

CIMB has placed a limit on the campaign period, with the offer ceasing once the total approved amount reaches RM150,000,000.

and AIA Hong Kong new credit card aims to motivate customers to maintain a healthy lifestyle (Hong Kong)

CIMB offering 0% instalment plan for 12 months on credit card spend including for health and education (Malaysia)

CARDS

BMO personal credit cardholders can now use PaySmart, a digital credit card installment plan that allows customers to turn eligible credit card purchases over $100 into smaller, interest-free monthly payments with a low fee.

The new feature offers customers the choice of different payment terms of either three, six or 12 equal monthly payments with no interest charges and a monthly fee of up to 0.9%. With PaySmart, purchases are made within existing credit limits, so no credit checks or approvals are required and cardholders continue to enjoy all the benefits of their credit card such as rewards and insurances.

The actual monthly fee will be disclosed at time of plan set up, and will be a percentage of the original principal amount, but only up to 0.9% of the principal amount.

Customers set up an installment plan for recent eligible credit card purchases of $100 CAD or more using BMO Online Banking. From the home screen they select their eligible credit card and click on the installment plan

tab. From there they click the Create button, select a recent eligible purchase they’d like to convert into an installment plan, pick a plan (choose 3, 6, or 12 months and review the fee that applies) then read and agree to the BMO PaySmart Terms and Conditions.

Customers can cancel their plan at any time, without penalty, with any remaining balance added to their credit card balance and subject to their standard interest rate as of the cancellation date.

If they miss a minimum credit card payment by the due date, their installment plan(s) will be automatically cancelled.

"BMO's new PaySmart feature provides customers with a predictable and convenient solution to help make their purchases and payments more manageable," said Jennifer Douglas, Head North American Retail & Small Business Payments. "By having the option to break down their purchases, customers can spend on a schedule that works for them, help control cashflow and continue to make real financial progress. A BMO PaySmart plan can make life more affordable now by turning credit card purchases into smaller, monthly payments with a low fee. Whether it's for an appliance upgrade, a much-needed home renovation or an unexpected purchase, customers can make a purchase now with the confidence that they'll pay it off by a set date.“

Watch the introductory video here.

Starling Bank has rolled out virtual cards for Personal Current Account customers. The virtual cards works just like a normal debit card for payments, but it’s linked to a Saving Space in the Starling app, instead of the main account balance. Like physical cards, virtual cards have a unique card number, expiry date and CVV.

Starling customers can have up to five virtual cards at any one time and can choose a different colour for each one, free of charge. To help customers with visual impairments differentiate the cards, each colour also has a unique shape, such as a circle or triangle, in the top-right corner of the card. Starling Bank describes the benefits of the virtual cards as:

Better Budgeting: Need to stick to a budget? Let’s say you’re making home improvements. Set money aside in a ‘DIY’ Space, and use your virtual card every time you buy materials. One look at your Space shows what you’ve spent, and what’s left. When the budget is used up, your virtual card will decline (until you top the Space up) instead of dipping into your main balance.

Extra security: Buying from a website you’ve not used before, or making a payment over the phone? Use a virtual card - the details are only linked to the money in your Space, and not your main balance. Just in case. You can also delete or lock your virtual card once it’s been used - even more reassurance your money is safe.

Better subscriptions management: Use Bills Manager to pay Direct Debits and standing orders from a Space. Add a virtual card to your Bills Space to pay subscriptions from your Bills Space too. Paying subscriptions from a Space helps you spot price fluctuations more easily too - since the payments aren’t buried in your main transactions feed.

BankBulb note: Monzo and Revolut have offered similar virtual cards, but are more limited in options and usage. Monzo customers have to pay £5 per month for Monzo’s Plus account to get access to virtual cards, and Revolut only gives customers a single virtual card free of charge.

BMO implements retroactive BNPL feature to credit card transactions over $100 (Canada)

Starling Bank introduce ability for customers to have 5 virtual cards linked to Saving Spaces (UK)

LOANS

SBS highlight their Canstar awards and introduce First Home Combo Box concept (New Zealand)

SBS Bank's new campaign targeted at first time buyers plays on the idea that New Zealand is one of the best places in the world to call home, and SBS Bank as the best bank in New Zealand to own a home with.

The "best bank to own a home with" claim built into the campaign is based on having been awarded the title of best bank for home loans and best bank for first home buyers by Canstar in 2022.

The campaign runs across OOH, TVC, social and owned channels with the spots fronted by a young married couple, enjoying their newly purchased first home. Watch the spot 'Less of a number' in which the voiceover explains they chose to get their home loan with SBS because "they are the best" and "you never feel like they are hiding anything from you."

Also being introduced with the campaign is the concept of a Home Loan Combo box, intended to address cost of living issues for first home buyers by offering a range of competitive inclusions, support, and one of New Zealand’s lowest interest rates.

On the bank's website the Combo is described as something "any first home buyer would love to snack on" with the food delivery metaphor continuing with "Sink your teeth into a better interest rate, cash, and so much more."

The FirstHome Combo is made up of: An "extra sharp rate for first home buyers only"; $2,000 to help cover costs connected to purchasing a first home; $1,000 to help cover first year’s premiums on House & Contents

Insurance policies with SBS Insurance; 24 months interest free on single transfer of up to $2,000 transferred to an SBS account from customer card account when opened; $1,000 contribution into customer's Lifestages KiwiSaver Scheme account.

Snapshot of SBS 'Combo' description

The Bank of East Asia (BEA) has launched its new “Green Mortgage x Deposit Plan” for green mortgage customers to earn a preferential interest rate on online time deposits.

”The “Green Mortgage Plan” is offered to prospective purchasers of first-hand, secondhand, or government-subsidised residences that have a valid provisional/final “Platinum” or “Gold” rating under the BEAM Plus New Buildings/Existing Buildings scheme of the Hong Kong Green Building Council.

The “Green Mortgage x Deposit Plan” allows eligible green mortgage customers to earn a preferential interest rate on 12-month time deposits placed with new funds through the Bank’s online channels, for a total deposit amount of up to 100% of their mortgage loan amount.

During the promotional period, green mortgage customers can receive an extra cash rebate of up to HK$16,888.

Ms. Shirley Wong, BEA, said, “Since the launch of our ‘Green Mortgage Plan’ last year, over 20% of mortgage customers have chosen this product. In view of this, we are offering a preferential time deposit rate so that our customers can earn a preferential interest rate on online time deposits.”

BEA launch 'Green Mortgage x Deposit Plan' for mortgage customers to earn preferential interest rates on deposits (Hong Kong)

Screenshots from 'Stars' spot

PERSONAL BANKING LOANS

As of October 12 Barclays mortgage customers have been able to now request a rate-switch within 180 days of their current fix ending. So for customers currently on a Barclays fix ending in March 2023, the advice is to secure a new rate if staying with Barclays is an option they want to consider.

This new timeframe is an extension from the original 90 day window, which was then extended to 150 days, before the now 180 day timeframe was introduced. As shown in this ad (right), the extension is presented as additional help for Cost of Living pressures.

K​​asikornbank is worked with Mitsubishi Motors (Thailand), Innpower Company Limited and SCG Roofing in launching the Dendo Drive House campaign.

The new energy ecosystem, which is the first of its kind in Thailand, allows PHEV drivers to generate, store and supply energy automatically between their vehicles and residences (known as ‘Vehicle to Home’ or V2H). Customers who buy a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and join this campaign receive a special interest rate of 1.95% for the auto loan with down payment of 25%, a Green Zero Home

Loan for solar panel installation with interest-free repayment for three months, and a discount of 70,000 Baht on the solar panel price together with a free bi-directional charger valued at 290,000 Baht.

The Dendo Drive House technology is an innovative energy ecosystem that can generate, store and share energy by converting solar energy into electricity through solar panels. The system consists of the battery of a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), a bi-directional charger, solar panels, and an Energy Storage System (ESS). The ESS is a storage battery designed for home use. The technology allows Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV owners to charge their vehicles at grid power and to supply electricity from their vehicles to the home. Apart from fuel savings, the Dendo Drive House also offers homeowners the opportunity for cost savings in their electricity bills by using leftover electricity in the ESS and the vehicle’s battery. It also serves as a reliable source of backup power in case of an emergency or power outage.

Barclays promote new ability for homeowners to request a rateswitch up to 180 days of their current fix ending (UK)

Ad in City AM paper on 6 December 2022

Kasikornbank collaborates with Mitsubushi and solar panel installers on green loan package (Thailand)

J.P. Morgan introduce 'Wealth Plan' digital money coach free to all Chase customers (USA)

J.P. Morgan Wealth Management has launch Wealth Plan, a free digital money coach that gives clients a full picture of their finances and helps them plan, save and invest, all in one place. The experience will be available for free to all 62 million digitallyactive Chase customers.

With Wealth Plan customers can:

• Get a full view of their finances including accounts outside of Chase

• Create and track goals in real time and get personalized step-by-step guidance on next steps

• See how changes to their spending or savings today could impact their financial future.

• Throughout the experience, Wealth Plan will give suggestions and offer educational content that can help users make progress towards their goals.

• Schedule a video meeting and work one-on-one with a J.P. Morgan financial advisor

BankBulb opinion: The foundation of the solution is Open Banking enabled 360° dashboard of the customer's personal finances. This then leads the coach (software) to develop possible strategies in order to achieve the customer's planned objectives, which crucially are made easy for the customers to input through suggestions and slide operation. Open Banking along with easy input will help make the tool engaging for customers (compared to Santander's new Budget Calculator and Health Check tools which require the customer to manually input all elements). The Wealth Plan tool is however seriously limited through its dealing only with savings and spending, with no focus on credit products, insurance policies and such like. Hopefully this will be added in future version.

Below is a new ad from Merrill that addresses both the uncertainty of market conditions and the excellent new Advisor Matching Program that we highlighted in October.

The ad copy reads "Merrill believes the future is bullish, even in the most unpredictable of markets, because we've been here before. And when you get matched with one of our advisors, you get years of financial planning experience and a goal-oriented plan – all designed to help you through the uncertainty" with a CTA for ML.com/Bullish from where prospective and existing clients can set up a complimentary consultation.

tendy unveils investment platform for teens for a safe, educational introduction to investing (UK)

tendy, a new educational investment platform for UK teens will officially launch next year but has now opened a waitlist for early access.

tendy will offer an educational platform that uses Duolingostyle learning activities around investing for improving financial literacy, the ability for kids to researching and picking stocks, from where they can send their parents a request to approve it and buy it.

tendy believes that first time investors today are exposed to unsafe platforms that encourage all the wrong habits.

Consequently, tendy aims to provide young beginners with a safe, educational introduction to investing.

The app investing infrastructure, including trading and custody services, fractional stocks and ETFs, client onboarding, and access to different account types.

Jamie Collie, CEO, tendy, says: "Our mission is to bring responsible investing to the next generation. WealthKernel was the natural choice for us given their stellar reputation for powering disruptive fintech platforms."

The educational content delivered in the mobile app helps users discover the mysteries of investment through games, competitions and interactive courses. Then, for the practical aspect, it also includes a trading tool, allowing them to carry out transactions (on funds, shares, including splits, etc.) and to monitor their portfolio.

tendy will earn revenue on each funded account. It's free for parents to sign up and open an account, with commission fees for investing activity. tendy will offer a premium subscription product, tendy pro, which will be billed monthly. tendy pro provides users with commission free investing, access to ISA/JISA accounts and broader stock coverage. Users will also have access to bonus learning games and extra educational content.

BankBulb note: Other investing propositions for children that we've highlighted recently include Hana (South Korea) app lets children earn, save and start to trade stocks and Fidelity (USA) launching first of its kind No-Fee Saving, Spending, and Investing Account for teens

It is well established assertion from many adults that they regret not having started to save and invest earlier and with the stock market being more intimidating. So, the idea behind tendy seems well considered and the design looks compelling. It will be interesting to see how it develops from a customer uptake perspective as well as the engagement for the education component.

Bank of America Merrill advertise their financial advisor matching along with free consultation for "uncertain times" (USA)

With Schwab Stock Slices™, which the firm introduced in June 2020, clients have the ability to own fractional shares of any of America's leading companies in the S&P 500® for as little as $5. Now, as shown in the this print ad (right), Schwab is suggesting clients can gift loved ones - with the focus on children - a gift that "can appreciate over time."

Clients need to open and fund a custodial account first, then whether it’s a gift for a birthday, holiday, or graduation, they can gift fractional shares for as little as $5. Schwab suggests Schwab Stock Slices as a great way to teach minors the power of investing.

To help increase excitement for the Stock Slices recipient, a tangible certificate showing the companies they own can be printed and personalized as an announcement of the gift.

Print ad in The Wall Street Journal on 9 December 2022

RESULTS UPDATE: A year after introducing Schwab Stock Slices, the company says they've seen tremendous client engagement – nearly two million Schwab Stock Slices orders and 300,000 accounts using the service. Over that time, they’ve also seen some interesting trends emerge:

• the most popular Schwab Stock Slices so far have been companies consumers know well but have higher share prices –stocks like Amazon, Apple, Tesla, Google, and Microsoft.

• the average investor is younger and has fewer assets with Schwab compared to Schwab’s average retail client overall.

• around 30% of all Schwab Stock Slices trades have been placed in IRAs since the June 2020 launch.

• about 15% of Schwab Stock Slices trades have been in custodial accounts, and that ticked up slightly during the 2020 holiday season.

• nearly 40% of Schwab Stock Slices trades happen on the Schwab mobile app.

Charles Schwab promote gifting of fractional shares of S&P 500 companies to youth (USA)

Wise customers can now earn ‘Interest’ in line with local rates directly through their accounts.

The new feature within Wise Assets product will allow customers to keep money in their Wise accounts and earn interest-like returns with their money held in government-backed assets. The Interest option follows the launch of stocks option last year.

Wise is launching the asset on GBP, USD and EUR balances with interest rates mirroring those offered by the Bank of England, the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank respectively.

Customer can switch their balance to Interest, with their money then moved to a fund that holds government guaranteed assets such as bonds. They can continue to spend & send their money as usual, yet they’ll be earning interest and enjoying the 100% government backing of their assets.

The yield from each Blackrock managed fund tracks the interest rate set by the central bank of that currency. For example, the assets in the USD fund pay interest benchmarked to the interest rate set by the US Federal Reserve. This means that when the US interest rate is high, the value of their customer's USD balance grows faster.

"Today, no UK bank offers a current account that pays central bank interest rates and provides a 100% government guarantee. No bank lets you control what they do with your money. And they don’t share any benefits with you, either" states a Wise blog post. "We’re building something better. So you’ll no longer have to give your money to your bank for free – and hope they lend it responsibly. And when your money is used to generate earnings, you’ll keep the return. The Wise account is setting a new standard for holding money - one we know banks will eventually follow."

Wise said that compared to an often unspecified cut of earnings taken by traditional banks when lending, Wise is charging 0.29%, including fund manager costs.

Wise is trying to rival banks’ interest-bearing accounts by using a public debt money market fund. The current annual yield variables are 3.29%, 2.52% and 0.88% on USD, GBP and EUR balances respectively. It plans to roll out ‘Interest’ to costumes across Europe next, having secured its investment licence in Estonia earlier this year.

Wise launches Interest product under Assets to rival ‘old-school’ savings accounts (UK)

Laurel

Laurel Road a digital banking platform and brand of KeyBank specialising in financial products to healthcare professionals has introduced 'Laurel Road for Doctors' a digital experience made up of banking, insights and exclusive benefits to provide the financial help and support for each stage of their career.

Tide launches app and Business Account in India (India)

UK SME banking provider Tide has launched in India, rolling out its app on the Google Play Store for Android smartphones and opening applications for its Business Account.

Over the next 24 months, Tide says it now plans to onboard 500,000 SMEs in India, rapidly scaling up as part of the £100m investment it is making in the country.

Tide says that all businesses will be onboarded via a full Know Your Customer (KYC) process, and only then will be able to access their accounts and start making transactions.

To promote the platform, a campaign titled I'm Also a Doctor has been launched, with a creative collaboration with VICE Media Group. I'm Also a Doctor is headlined with a five-part docuseries which celebrates five individual doctors and their pursuits outside their healthcare jobs, while also recognizing their commitment to providing exceptional care. Alyssa Schaefer, General Manager, Laurel Road. "Through the I'm Also a Doctor series, our aim was to show that our members are extraordinary even outside of their lab coats, shining a spotlight on their unique talents and, highlighting how living a balanced life helps them better serve their patients.“

Each episode focuses on a doctor and celebrates their pursuits outside of their healthcare job, demonstrating how these passions help alleviate stress that is often a by-product of their demanding work lives. "This campaign was all about telling real stories, highlighting human experiences, and promoting work/life balance. VICE News' honest approach to storytelling was a perfect fit for the vision that Laurel Road had for this project," said Vanessa Hudson, Director & Producer at VICE Media Group. "We encouraged all our subjects to tell their unfiltered stories and learned how pursuing passions helps medical professionals avoid burnout and find fulfillment outside of their demanding professions. It was a truly inspiring campaign to be a part of."

Laurel Road is extending the campaign promoting the extraordinary passions of its doctor members across social media, highlighting their accolades and personal endeavors with #ImAlsoADoctor, with updates posted on Laurel Road's Instagram, @laurel_road.

Laurel Road's banking and lending solutions, include High Yield Savings℠ Account, Student Loan Cashback℠ Credit Card, Student Loan Refinancing, Mortgages, Personal Loans. In spring of 2022, Laurel Road launched Loyalty Checking, the first checking account designed with nurses in mind.

To start off with Tide is only offering a basic account with spending and expense tracking and card payments, but next year is working to add a full Current and Savings Account complete with bank transfers, invoicing and more, ultimately reaching parity between its Indian and UK offerings.

“We believe there is a vast untapped segment of small businesses in India that hasn’t been formally accounted for,” said Tide CEO Oliver Prill, announcing the launch today.

“We, at Tide, are committed to introducing and including a large segment of this market into the formal economy.”

Tide first announced its intention to expand to India in January 2021 with a plan to rollout services towards the end of the year, however, this was later revised to “early” 2022, and eventually to “later” in 2022.

BankBulb opinion: We are not fans of brands launching with such a "limited" offering, especially with an offering that doesn't even address a particularly notable pain point. The Indian market is fiercely competitive with the private banks and newer payment providers such as Paytm providing strong product suites, digital experiences and with a focus with onboarding all manner of MSMEs. Hopefully for Tide they can quickly add more products, features and payment functionality, as they have done in the UK where they have been a notable innovator – and which we’ve covered many times on BankBulb – to give themselves a chance of competing successfully, but it will be an uphill battle.

Road digital banking platform create 'I’m Also a Doctor' series to stress the benefits of a balanced life (USA)

In December 2021, BNZ introduced 'payment packages' pricing for small businesses to have choice on taking payments at the point of sale. Starting at $5 a month for $400 worth of transactions per month and flexing up to $545 for $54,000 worth of transactions.

At the time, BNZ Acting Executive, Customer, Products, and Services, Karna Luke, says, “We are changing the game for SMEs with a new way to pay for point-of-sale transactions. The new packages lower costs and provide greater certainty and transparency so small business owners can afford to take a wider range of payment types. Our new flexible package pricing means small businesses can choose the payment package that suits their business sales volumes safe in the knowledge the costs will be more predictable regardless of the ways their customers decide to pay." Payment packages are flexible so customers can be sure they are always getting the best deal automatically with any usage over the transactions in

the selected tier billed at a flat rate or automatically moved to the next tier – whichever is best for the business at the time If a customer is on a higher tier and has a quieter month, they will automatically be moved down to the lower package for that month to suit their needs, or zero if there is no activity. The packages are available to small business with volumes up to $75,000 per month and include international transactions up to 10% of total sales. BNZ’s other pricing options such as split pricing and Interchange Plus are still available for merchants with different needs including higher international volumes.

Package pricing is available for payments taken through a terminal or a website.

Working with Paydock, a "payments orchestration platform", CommBank is launching PowerBoard, a solution for a merchant’s technology integrations, payments, and fraud prevention needs. A first in Australian banking, PowerBoard makes enabling and scaling online businesses easier by streamlining connectivity to payment services via a single platform. PowerBoard will offer traditional card payments, domestic payment methods, as well as other alternative payment methods, and services such as fraud and security features will be pre-integrated. The PowerBoard portal provides a simple interface to switch on features, monitor real-time transactions, and configure the experience they want to deliver to their customers; meeting the unique needs of each business. PowerBoard is set to integrate with five categories of payment methods: traditional card payments; digital wallets including Apple Pay and Google Pay; Buy Now Pay Later alternative payment methods; domestic payment methods such as eftpos and PayTo; and digital gift cards. CBA is white labelling the Paydock solution and has exclusive rights to distribute the product in Australia. “PowerBoard is a significant step for CBA as we look beyond traditional banking products and services to solve pain points for our customers and provide better, integrated solutions. This is about helping our business customers create better experiences for their own customers. We are incredibly excited to be the first bank to offer such a service, and are looking forward to building out the offering in the coming months,” said Mr Vacy-Lyle.

Following an initial release to a limited selection of business customers, PowerBoard will be rolled out more widely from mid-2023.

BNZ highlight their package pricing for Merchants as sales can be expected to fluctuate over coming months

(New Zealand)

Ad running on Facebook from 6 December 2022

CommBank launch PowerBoard e-com solution to simplify integrations merchant payment choice and efficiences (Australia)

RHB's new short film "The Extra Mile" tells the story of two RHB staff from Kuala Kangsar, who travelled 140km to Gerik during the pandemic to help a bedridden customer with the process of withdrawing his Employees Provident Fund for his medical expenses.

The film starts out following two friends who are seemingly enjoying their day off by going on a hike together in a stunning rainforest. As the film progresses they are challenged by the terrain and unplanned events and then only in the last stage of the film do viewers learn the friends also happen to be RHB employees and the purpose of their trek.

Abdul Sani Abdul Murad, group CMO of RHB Group, says, “We knew right from the get-go that a commercial about RHB’s commitment in providing service excellence has to be based on a true story of our staff, because the RHB brand that Malaysians have come to know and love is not built by the numbers in our annual report or the products that we have, but by our people."

This year, RHB introduced Together We Progress 2024 (TWP24), its new 3-year corporate strategy which will drive the Bank’s ambition to become a leader in service excellence and validate RHB’s brand purpose of ‘Making Progress Happen for Everyone’.

The campaign is running across all RHB Bank’s digital channels. In the two weeks since launch, the film has been viewed over 5.7 million times. Watch the spot here.

NatWest has released an ‘honest’ job advert to warn of the dangers of money muling, after new research reveals 39% of young adults have been targeted by potentially sinister job ads on social media. Money muling is the fraudulent use of a bank account and therefore also is a type of money laundering. A money mule receives money from someone else, and either takes it out as cash or transfers it on to a new account, keeping a small amount of ‘commission’ for themselves. Some people are aware they are working as money mules, but others are unaware and enticed by job ads promising easy ways to make quick cash – often on social media.

To highlight the dangers of being recruited as a money mule, NatWest has teamed up with 26 year old celebrity and social media star, Perri Kiely, to create an ‘honest’ job ad (view here) and poster campaign – highlighting the true nature of money muling and the consequences if convicted. The ads, which form part of the bank’s fraud awareness campaign, are running across social media and sees Perri Kiely staring as a ‘recruiter’ advertising the perks of being a money mule – without leaving out any of the honest realities that the criminals behind them don’t want you to know.

A study by NatWest of 1,000 18-30 year olds discovered that four in ten (39%) young adults have been targeted by ‘quick money’ job ads on social media, with three quarters (74%) seeing an increase in these ads in the last two years – and of those 91% said the number of times they’ve seen them has more than doubled.

However, on average, 78% were unaware of what a money mule is, only 32% have heard the term before and 60% don’t know the severity of the consequences – which if convicted, can land you in jail for up to 14 years. Stuart Skinner, Fraud and Scam Expert at NatWest said: “Now more than ever, people are increasingly mindful of their money and financial pressures are only likely to intensify during the festive season. We want to help keep your finances safe by highlighting the dangers that exist in our society via money muling and online scammers. We would urge all parents, friends and family to talk about this important issue with their loved ones to help safeguard against the serious risks and consequences that many young people are unaware of.”

RHB shows how it goes the extra mile to serve the bank's customers (Malaysia)

Screenshots from The Extra Mile

NatWest warn to the dangers of becoming a money mule (UK)

Billboard-style posters also bring to life some of the realities that money mules could face, with one showing Perri in jail.

Mercado Pago position branded benches across major cities to reinforce the message branches aren't needed (Brazil)

To reinforce the message that branches aren't required for banking, the digital-only bank Mercado Pago has placed 5,500 branded benches in high visibility locations across the cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Recife and Salvador. The idea is to show Brazilians that in order to carry out their banking transactions they don't need a branch, just a comfortable spot and their smartphone or computer. "Here’s our new bench" is written on the benches.

This new phase of the campaign is a fun way to reinforce to Brazilians that Mercado Pago is one of the largest digital banks in the country and is present at all times of their day, says Pethra Ferraz, Vice President of Marketing for Mercado Pago for America Latin. People still have a perception that they find financial services only in physical places. This intervention goes to show that we are present in all corners of Brazil, with a complete range of digital financial products and services, she explains.

This new phase of the campaign is a fun way to reinforce to Brazilians that Mercado Pago is one of the largest digital banks in the country and is present at all times of their day, says Pethra Ferraz, Vice President of Marketing for Mercado Pago for America Latin saying "people still have a perception that they find financial services only in physical places. This intervention goes to show that we are present in all corners of Brazil, with a complete range of digital financial products and services."

BankBulb note: We've seen several campaigns from banks with benches playing a starring role. For example in campaigns from EQ Bank (Canada) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (India). The reason being, benches can act as a metaphor for unconditional accessibility and relaxation.

Benches are a central focus to convey accessibility in both EQ Bank and KMB Bank campaigns

HSBC's latest metaverse experience focuses on art and culture (Hong Kong)

In an effort to encourage Hong Kong residents to appreciate art and culture, HSBC has opened a metaverse gallery that provides an immersive online experience where art and technology collide. The bank is encouraging the public to explore the virtual world by opening a metaverse gallery. The virtual platform, accessible from December 7, features digital artworks created by local artists such as Yeung Hok Tak, Wong Ping, and Flying Pig. Visitors can also design and personalise avatars plus take part in special fireside discussion with artists ands speakers.

Screenshots from 'Open to Art' introductory video

“With the HSBC metaverse gallery, we aim to continue broadening the horizons of the metaverse phenomenon, while allowing local artists to gain more exposure from the global audience. Ultimately, this will help foster an appreciation for local culture and further develop useful applications of the metaverse in Hong Kong,” said Brian Hui, head of customer propositions and marketing, wealth personal banking of HSBC Hong Kong.

We wouldn't typically highlight a careers-focused campaign as they generally aren't going to impact awareness and consideration metrics, but in the case of Kasikornbank's new careers campaign video, it has garnered over 4 million views in the month since launch, plus the campaign is wonderfully irreverent in the way we've seen and reported on from many Thai banking ads over the last decade.

With fierce competition to attract young talent and the rise of startups and other modern corporations, incumbent employers have become less attractive and are facing a brain drain. With this insight, Kasikornbank has launched its new employer statement - "Possibility to make an impact".

The campaign uses satirical marketing tactics to show the value of humour when attracting prospective candidates' attention. Through a 2-minute online film, they aim to persuade them to click on the Kasikorn Career Website for various calls to action.

Titled "Work Work Work", the humourous 2 minute film aims to persuade young employees to click on the Kasikorn Career Website for various calls to action. The film depicts three situations that young talent often face in a company - hierarchy, submissive behaviour and unrealistic budgeting. The film changes the perspective of the big corporate and shows that Kasikornbank is here to enable young talent to thrive in the work environment and that they can truly live the statement "Possibility to make an impact."

In the month since launch the video has garnered over 2.9 million views on YouTube and 1.8 million views on Facebook.

Screenshots from campaign video

Erste Bank’s animated Christmas spot addresses the energy crisis (Austria)

As 2022, has proved the biggest energy crisis of the last 50 years for many in Europe, with electricity, gas and fuel barely affordable for many people, others have the means to contribute during this difficult time. Agint this backdrop Erste Bank's latest animated campaign, "Believe In Christmas", tells the story of a nasty character determined to ruin the holidays for everyone in a small community, through sabotaging cars petrol tanks and electricity boxes. People in the community experience an energy crisis as a result of his actions.

However, the community rallies around each other and end up cheering themselves up as they assemble, rejoice and exchange presents in the town square, all lit up with candles. Watch the spot here

Kasikornbank humourous careers-focused campaign draws over 4 million views (Thailand)

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