In response to the ongoing state of emergency in the country, Bank of Palestine launched a nationwide campaign to encourage its customers to use online banking instead of visiting BoP branches. The campaign grants the Banki application users a daily prize of 1,000 Shekels, and the bank will donate one Shekel for every transaction conducted on the application to support the government and the Ministry of Health in combatting Covid-19.
Mr. Rushdi Ghalayini, the General Director of Bank of Palestine, stated that the campaign coincided with the launch of the new version of the Banki application, which was designed to incorporate a vast selection of financial services that respond to the daily needs of customers. According to Ghalayini, “Banki is a safe and comprehensive app that responds to customer needs and allows them to conduct their transactions without the hassle of visiting one of the bank branches.” “The campaign promotes BoP awareness efforts and encourages customers to stay at home and follow the prevention instructions issued by the government and relevant bodies,” added Ghalayini.
Mr. Thaer Hamayel, Chief of Business Retail Officer at Bank of Palestine, stated that the bank has taken several steps during the ongoing state of emergency, providing facilitations to customers by increasing the ceiling for transactions to a maximum of $10,000, as well as the ceiling for deposits and withdrawals to $4,000 a day. The bank also extended the validity of credit cards that expire in March 2020 to three months from the expiration date. According to Hamayel, “the campaign aims to promote online banking services in response to customer needs, and produce a series of videos to spread awareness about the benefits of online banking.”
Hamayel also added that the bank doubled the points earned by customers from transactions performed on the Banki app and part of the Pointcom program, from 25 to 50 points, to spread awareness about the use of online banking. The new campaign, Banki from my home, includes current and new customers who have the Banki app, providing them the opportunity to win the daily prize of 1,000 Shekels based on a simple strategy: the more transactions performed, the better chances for winning. The Banki app also allows customers to check the number of points earned, which may be exchanged for money or used for shopping at supermarkets and the various Points of Sale.
According to Hamayel, by simply downloading the Banki app and accessing it for the first time, customers earn 1,000 points. They also earn 50 points for every chequebook request, money transfer, transfer to other accounts, pay to a friend, recharge cards or pay bills, or by simply accessing the app once a month. The bank also decreased fees by 35% on several banking services conducted online.
These efforts are conducted side by side with the steps taken by the bank in developing several channels to communicate with its customers and provide them services without the need to move from one place to another. These services include Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) for performing banking transactions using smartphones, an official channel on WhatsApp to communicate with customers, and the BoP information center (1700150150) for ordering and cancelling services or inquiring about transactions.