Tag: Credit Card

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Soft Space, a local fintech provider, has announced a partnership with financial services company, JCB International, and banking institution Hong Leong Bank to promote JCB Card acceptance in Malaysia, capitalising on the potential of post-pandemic economic recovery.

Soft Space and JCBI entered into an agreement to partner with local acquirers, notably HLB, to promote JCB Card acceptance throughout Malaysia. As part of this initiative, Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara, a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, has already begun taking JCB Card payments made possible by HLB.

Joel Tay, chief executive officer of Soft Space, said, “As Japanese tourist arrivals in Malaysia begin to ramp up again, we are pleased to be able to enable and promote cross-border payments between Japan and Malaysia via our partners.”

He added, “This merely represents a first step in our ambition to roll out similar agreements in Southeast Asia, boosting JCB Card acceptance and riding on the wave of increasing contactless card payments in the region.”

Talking about the expansion and collaboration, Yoshiki Kaneko, president and chief executive officer of JCB International, said, “We decided to expand the collaboration with another global leader who shares similar values in enhancing user experience through state-of-the-art technological application.” 

He added, “Malaysia has been an important destination country for our card members across the regions. Establishing a partnership with HLB is a huge step forward for the expansion of JCB acceptance network in Malaysia. We can now better serve JCB Card members coming to Malaysia not only from Japan, but also from the ASEAN region where we have more than 10 million card members.” 

“I am especially delighted as this achievement has been brought via a unique tripartite collaboration including Soft Space. Leveraging on today’s success, we are further strengthening our presence in the entire ASEAN region through this partnership with Soft Space,” Kaneko said. 

Speaking about the partnership, Andrew Jong, managing director of personal financial services at HLB, stated, “With an influx of tourists and expats coming from Japan into Malaysia, the option to accept JCB Cards will ensure convenience for its cardholders and provide businesses with an additional opportunity to capture more tourists and grow their business. This partnership will enable us to serve the customers who are increasingly going cashless as well as help our merchants increase their sales and customer transaction value.”

Mumbai, India – Consumer bank DBS has partnered with Bajaj Finance, the lending arm of non-banking financial services company Bajaj Finserv, to launch its first-ever credit card in India called ‘Bajaj Finserv DBS Bank SuperCard’, which is powered by Visa. This is designed to de-clutter customers’ wallets, eliminating the need for having multiple credit cards.

Through this partnership, DBS Bank India and Bajaj Finance aim to create an end-to-end digital experience and proposition for customers while catering to a large customer franchise across the geographic distribution of Bajaj Finance Limited.

The SuperCard will provide its customers with benefits and rewards across different product categories and exclusive benefits on Bajaj Finserv’s range of products and services available across the country.

Prashant Joshi, DBS Bank India’s head of consumer banking group, stated that this SuperCard is a transformative credit card experience curated to eliminate friction in the payments journey and transparency in billing so that customers can ‘Live More and Bank Less’.

“The credit card space is seeing robust growth. We are confident that the SuperCard developed in partnership with Bajaj Finance will help eliminate the need for multiple cards, widen the access to credit and offer compelling rewards and benefits to our customers, thanks to the BFL franchise network. Our vision is to leverage the strengths of both organisations and offer an end product which guarantees rich rewards and best-in-class customer experience,” said Joshi.

Meanwhile, Anup Saha, Bajaj Finance Limited’s deputy CEO, noted their partnership with DBS bank for this co-branded credit card further strengthens their position to deliver a seamless customer experience.

“The Bajaj Finserv DBS Bank SuperCard, as the name suggests, not only provides various industry-first benefits across lifestyle, travel and subscription categories but also provides exclusive Bajaj Finserv EMI network benefits like cashbacks on ‘No-cost-EMI’ loan down-payments & redemption of cash points against the same. It also has Bajaj Finserv Health benefits bundled into it. Bundling all this together, this card is a clear contender to become the most preferred card in our customers’ wallets,” said Saha.

Sandeep Ghosh, Visa’s group country manager for India and South Asia, said, “As more consumers turn to credit cards for their daily and discretionary needs, they actively seek easier access to credit alongside curated benefits and privileges. The Bajaj Finserv DBS Bank SuperCard has been designed to offer the best of both worlds. We are excited to partner DBS Bank as they launch their first credit card in India and are confident that the card’s unique value proposition will appeal to a large segment of Indian consumers.”

Jakarta, Indonesia – Indonesia’s bank Danamon has partnered with global payment brand JCB in Indonesia, to launch Danamon JCB Precious Credit Card, which offers various benefits for customers.

The cardholders of the new Danamon JCB Precious Credit Card will immediately get a Haagen-Dazs bonus voucher worth RP50,000 and holiday vouchers of up to RP3,500,000, which can be used for flight tickets or staycations with shopping starting from RP10m by using the new credit card in the first two months after it is approved.

Moreover, the cardholders can also access the JCB acceptance network with about 37 million merchants globally and enjoy special offers at selected merchants and customer services at JCB Plaza around the world.

Yasushi Itagaki, Danamon’s president director, shared that by collaborating with JCB, Danamon wants to optimise customer spending through various benefits that match each individual’s unique inspiration to break free from their daily routines.

“This is in line with Danamon’s commitment to becoming a financial enabler and catalyst to help customers control their finances,” said Itagaki.

Meanwhile, Takumi Takahashi, JCB’s president director for Indonesia, said, “The cardholders can enjoy not only daily use of their card inside Indonesia but also across the world by using JCB merchant network. After the pandemic, we hope our cardholders can enjoy travelling around the world with the Danamon JCB Precious Credit Card.”

Bangkok, Thailand – Credit card brand First Choice in Thailand has released its newest ad – a parody of making the world’s first metaverse commercial. The ad was developed by creative agency Leo Burnett Thailand who shared that the inspiration was none other than the coming of the metaverse and how it is becoming a hot topic for younger generations across the globe. 

The agency shared that the brand aimed to promote its credit cards to a young and blockchain-savvy audience, which gave them the idea: Why not shoot the commercial entirely in the metaverse?

With metaverse an entirely new phenomenon, the agency spun a sarcastic flavour to the ad ‘Metaverrrrrr,’ which shows the First Choice marketing team working alongside Thai Stars Mario and Pattie. The ad demonstrates how unique the demands and challenges will become in shooting in a metaverse setting, such as lagging and disappearing avatars. 

“As a credit card brand for the young generation, First Choice is jumping on the Metaverse trend with a unique vision for brand communications and a funny, witty execution,” says Athip Sinpagekan, EVP and head of marketing at First Choice.

Sompat Trisadikun, chief creative officer at Leo Burnett Thailand, added, “We loved the idea of filming in the Metaverse in a style that will engage this generation of banking customers. It’s relatable, timely, complete with glitches and poor signals: we hope it will stand out in a category that is often safe and conservative.”

First Choice credit cards offer benefits such as credit health checks, spending alerts, bonus points and cashback rewards. ‘Metaverrrrrr’ builds on another recent campaign by Leo Burnett Thailand, which is the First NFT Credit Card ART Collaboration. 

In January, First Choice unveiled its first NFT Credit Card ART Collaboration, a one-of-a-kind NFT token designed in collaboration with Thai NFT artist PUCK.

“The banking system is facing radical transformation as a new generation moves towards the blockchain system. We have been working with Leo Burnett Thailand to let them know that First Choice is ready to face the change together. Our goal is to penetrate this market and promote our brand image to suit the lifestyles of the Metaverse,” added Sinpagekan.