Emirates NBD offers mobile 'Shake n' Save' to encourage 'impulse saving'
Dubai-based bank Emirates NBD is encouraging customers to save small amounts of money by shaking their smartphones, according to Zawya.com.
Emirates NBD's app allows customers to pre-set limits for the amount of money they want to save each time they shake their smartphone. With each shake, the phone displays a random figure within a pre-set range. Customers can shake as many times as they wish before accepting the displayed amount. A statement within the app allows them to see how much they have saved and what funds remain in their account.
The bank said it pays an interest rate of up to 2 percent on savings through Shake n' Save. Customers can elect to use Shake n' Save without the need to log into their bank accounts.
Emirates NBD said Shake n' Save is the first example of combining financial services with popular technology trends such as gamification in non-game contexts. The launch is in line with the bank's strategy of encouraging customers to migrate to digital banking through greater use of mobile and online banking channels.
The bank said it is providing an opportunity for impulse saving as opposed to spending. According to the U.A.E. Central Bank, the average resident in the U.A.E. has no more than AED 10,000 ($2,700) in savings.
"Emirates NBD is continuously on the lookout for ways to offer customers an enhanced banking experience through launching value-added services in the digital banking space," Suvo Sarkar, Emirates NBD's general manager of retail banking, said in a news release.
According to recent figures from Google's Mobile Planet, the U.A.E. had the world's highest smartphone penetration rate in the first quarter of 2013, at 73.8 percent, higher than South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. Mobile Internet usage penetration is also high at 73 percent, compared to 41 percent for MENA (Middle East and North Africa) and 51 percent globally.
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