Shehryar Ali, Head of Retail Banking at Bank One Limited, MauritiusInnovation is a core tenet of Bank One Mauritius (Bank One) allowing it to accomplish many firsts in the Mauritian market over the years. Led by a professional with over 16 years of international exposure in the Retail Banking segment, Bank One seeks to offer differentiated and best-in-class products and services that challenge the status quo in the domestic Retail Banking market in Mauritius. In particular, its credit card products offer the best value for customers in the domestic market. A constant source of customer delight, Bank One credit cards provide a solid pillar of support to the company’s bottom line. Having been adjudged Winner, Credit Card of the Year at the recent Global Retail Banking Innovation Awards 2020 (GRB Awards) by The Digital Banker comes as no surprise anymore.
“As a pioneer of best-in-class products and services, Bank One seeks to offer a differentiated experience to its domestic Retail Banking market in Mauritius. Underpinned by the strength of its operations, and a clear objective to revamp and transform the credit card segment, Bank One launched a unique value proposition encompassing contactless credit cards with cashback and free-for-life offers,” said Nirav Patel, Managing Director at The Digital Banker during the awards ceremony.
In a statement, Shehryar Ali, Head of Retail Banking at Bank One Limited, Mauritius said: “We are delighted to receive the award for the “Credit Card of the Year 2020”! It is a proud moment for Bank One and I congratulate our entire team on achieving this impressive feat. Our incomparable cashback offering, social and environmental contribution via the contactless feature and zero annual fees* have certainly enhanced our unique value proposition. We are committed to further developing our payments menu with the ultimate objective of enriching the greater ecosystem and making payments contribute to our social and environmental well-being”.
“As a pioneer of best-in-class products and services, Bank One seeks to offer a differentiated experience to its domestic Retail Banking market in Mauritius.”
Mr Shehryar Ali also emphasised the importance of its customer’s safety saying, “Since the pandemic and the lockdown in Mauritius, we have witnessed an accelerated rate at which the migration is taking place between cash and card payments. At Bank One, contactless transactions have grown by over 400% since March 2020. The health and safety of our customers are of paramount importance to us and that is the reason why we trebled our contactless limits. I think that it is only a matter of time before Mauritius becomes predominantly a cashless society.”
Keeping Customers Safe with Contactless Cards
In 2019, Bank One launched a series of initiatives that revitalised its credit card offering, boosting its market positioning and making it the preferred card of many Mauritians.
The adoption and usage of contactless payments have increased multiple times as more and more customers discover the security, convenience and time-saving benefits of using them astheir preferred mode of payment for in-store transactions. Users of contactless payments also found their exposure to COVID-19 reduced with the elimination of physical cash or traditional POS transactions which require longer interaction and physical contact at checkout. Indeed, the COVID-19 crisis has been a ‘wake up call’ for consumers, businesses/merchants and banks for the need of having digital payments solutions in place.
In Mauritius, there has been a significant increase in digital on-boarding and online payments during the lockdown period leading to trial and adoption of digital payments. Notably, digital users had an advantage of not being exposed to contamination through the handling of cash, using ATMs or making traditional card payments by using keypads at merchants.
The adoption of contactless payments has increased manifold as more customers discover the security, convenience and time-saving benefits of using contactless cards as a mode of payment for in-store transactions. Many users have recognised that their exposure to COVID-19 can be reduced by eliminating physical cash or POS transactions, which require longer interaction and physical contact at checkout. Indeed, the COVID-19 crisis has been a ‘wake-up call’ for many customers and businesses on the need of having digital payments solutions in place.
Bank One has been among the few elite banks in Mauritius offering contactless payments option. It also has the highest contactless payment thresholds on the island at MUR 3,000 per transaction and MUR 6,000 daily.
“Bank One has been among the few elite banks in Mauritius offering contactless payments option. It also has the highest contactless payment thresholds on the island at MUR 3,000 per transaction and MUR 6,000 daily.”
Hassle-free Cashback that’s Free-For-Life
Solidifying its unique positioning in the market, Bank One also launched the first Cashback Credit Cards in Mauritius that allows customers to get a monthly Cashback when they pay with their Bank One VISA Credit Cards. Unlike other card loyalty programs, the Cashback program does not require cumbersome processes to claim for gifts and rewards. The Cashback is calculated automatically and credited to the customer’s monthly credit card bill. In addition, it’s free-for-life!
Bank One’s Cashback and Free-for-Life benefits are among the best rewards program anywhere in the world. It is also the only bank in Mauritius to apply a reward system on all its credit card categories – from Classic to Infinite. The peculiarity of Cashback is that no customer intervention is necessary. Hence, there is no need for customers to accumulate points, fill out forms or wait for gift vouchers. The customer simply uses his credit card wherever he wants – be it in Mauritius, online or while travelling and, at the end of the month, the Cashback is automatically credited on his credit card account statement.
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