KUALA LUMPUR: AGROBANK'S Mega Million Campaign has surpassed its year-to-date target for the first two cycles, achieving over 100 per cent of the goal from October to December 2023. Initiated last October, the campaign emphasises deposits while also highlighting other products and services provided by the bank, such as financing, takaful and will writing.
Agrobank president and chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Tengku Ahmad Badli Shah Raja Hussin expressed confidence that the campaign will surpass 150 per cent of its target by the end of the period on Sept 30 this year.
"Our focus is to attract more than 50,000 customers for this campaign from the Klang Valley, Sabah, and Sarawak, as well as those on the East Coast. We are proactive in formulating these kinds of campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of savings while encouraging our customers to deposit funds in their respective accounts.
"Agrobank does not only want to promote prudent financial management habits but also wants to make the saving habits an exciting experience," he told Business Times in an interview. The campaign is open to existing as well as new Agrobank customers, including individuals and corporations. It involves Agrobank's products, including AgroPrimaS, AgroPerdana-i PLUS, AgroCash-i, Hartani-i, Takaful Kasih Plus, Agro Madani, Agro Nurani, will writing, and motor takaful.
"The lucky draw is also available for non-individuals, namely companies. Various prizes are up for grabs in this category, with cash prizes up to RM5,000 to be won. We are running this campaign from October 2023 until September 2024. Through this campaign, we intend to promote the financial services products of Agrobank, particularly for the services that we offer to the public and also to encourage them to save with us," Ahmad Badli Shah said.
Agrobank recently held its prize-giving ceremony for the lucky draw winners from October last year to March.
For the first cycle draw, lucky draw winners picked each month brought home a BYD Dolphin, a Proton X50 and a Perodua Myvi. Kamaruzzaman Abdul Rahman from Selayang won the Myvi, Chan Yeok Kew from Raub, Pahang, took home the X50 and Amit Munchit from Beaufort, Sabah, won the BYD Dolphin.
For the second monthly cycle draw, Mohd Zulkhairi Zulkifli from Kepala Batas won a Perodua Myvi, Che Sayang Mat Hashim from Simpang Empat took home a Proton X50 and Mohamad Hisham Ibrahim from Grik won a BYD Dolphin.
"The Mega Million Campaign reflected our appreciation for our customers, and we offer various interesting prizes, among which include electric vehicles and cash up to RM2 million," Ahmad Badli Shah said.
Given the positive response from customers, he said the bank may run a second Mega Million Campaign after the first one concludes.
"We shall see what prizes to give to attract more customers and what would be suitable for the campaign," he said.
In this campaign, winners will be picked in three types of draws; monthly draws, regional cycle draws and the grand draw. Customers who participate in the campaign will earn entry points if they comply with the bank's terms and conditions.
These points will determine their chances of winning in the lucky draw. The regional draw, which is conducted quarterly, offers prizes of RM1,000, RM2,000, RM2,500, RM3,000 and RM5,000, with one winner selected for each prize.
In the monthly draw, the bank is offering Perodua MyVi, BYD Dolphin, and Proton X50 for each cycle, with a Tesla reserved for the grand draw.
In total, the campaign will have four cycles of monthly draws and a grand draw at the end of the period. To participate in the campaign, customers need to deposit a minimum of RM500 for the individual category in their AgroPrimaS account, while non-individuals are require to deposit a minimum of RM5,000.
For AgroPerdana-i PLUS, non-individual participants need to have a minimum average monthly balance of RM5,000. Customers will earn additional entry points with an add-on or combination of will writing and takaful, or financing products, when they participate in the campaign.
To commemorate the monthly winners for January, February and March 2024 as well as the winners of the Round 2 draw, Agrobank hosted the Mega Million Prize Giving Ceremony last week.
"This campaign has exceeded its monthly target by over 100 per cent, and Agrobank is confident in achieving even greater participation by the end of the campaign period. Our goal is to attract over 50,000 customers from the Klang Valley, Sabah, Sarawak and the East Coast to participate in this campaign.
"We have witnessed substantial growth in the subscriptions of Agrobank's products since the beginning of the campaign. Takaful products have exhibited 115 per cent increase, will writing has increased by more than 115 per cent and Agrocash-i Personal Financing has reached 951 million in loan approval," he said.
GREATER INTEREST IN WILL WRITING
Since the launch of the Mega Million Campaign, Agrobank has witnessed a surge in the uptake of its will-writing products.
Ahmad Badli Shah noted a significant increase in subscriptions for various products, notably a remarkable 52 per cent growth in takaful offerings. Similarly, interest in will-writing services has soared by over 110 per cent, while Agrocash-i Personal Financing has experienced a notable 43 per cent uptick.
"We hope our customers can continue to enjoy benefits from the services provided by Agrobank," he said.
On the rise in the uptake of will writing, he highlighted the campaign's objective to educate customers on this aspect of wealth management. Ahmad Badli Shah emphasised the importance of writing a will, underscoring the advantages it offers, particularly in unforeseen circumstances, and acknowledging that many individuals often overlook it due to limited understanding.
"A lot of people do not understand that there is an advantage if you prepare a will. "This is beneficial because should anything happen to you, you will have your will and at a minimum cost. The public has not taken this into serious consideration due to little understanding," he said.
To bridge this knowledge gap, Agrobank has deployed teams on the ground and at branches to offer guidance and encourage customers to subscribe to this service.
Ahmad Badli Shah also highlighted the affordability of Agrobank's takaful products, attributing them to the significant increase in uptake during the Mega Million Campaign. Agrobank's takaful product starts as low as RM10.60, providing coverage of RM10,000, making it one of the most accessible options available, he said.
"This is the most available takaful product in town. We are offering Takaful Kasih Plus, whereby the premium is only RM10 per annum or three sen per day," Ahmad Badli Shah said.
TOKEN OF APPRECIATION
The recipients of the monthly draw prizes view the campaign positively, interpreting it as a gesture of the bank's appreciation for its customers. Kamaruzzaman expressed his eagerness to join the campaign, highlighting the low deposit requirement as a factor that makes it accessible to a wide range of people.
"It is a great initiative by the bank to reward its customers and it also allow the bank to remain competitive in the market due to their exciting product offerings," he said.
Kamaruzzaman was the monthly winner for October last year. He brought home the MyVi from the quarterly draw. The campaign's advertisement and a thorough explanation from the bank staff at the Beaufort branch attracted Amit to try his luck.
Luck was on his side when his name was drawn in the monthly draw, and it further stretched to the quarterly draw, where he won the BYD Dolphin.
"This campaign will be able to attract new depositors to the bank. I have saved with Agrobank for 12 years, and I really like the way the bank shows its appreciation to customers," he said.
AT THE FOREFRONT OF MICROFINANCE
Agrobank is allocating RM200 million for microfinance with a profit rate of three per cent per annum to promote Bumiputera participation in agrofood business and agriculture, said Ahmad Badli Shah.
This was in line with the announcement made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to allocate funds to encourage more Bumiputera participation in the sectors.
"We are promoting our microfinance scheme for Bumiputera to be in line with the government's aspiration as well as the prime mini's announcement to encourage more participation from the group. Looking ahead, he said Agrobank is focusing on mandated financing directed by the government to improve food security in Malaysia.
"This is to ensure the nation is self-reliant and to also minimise imports," he said.
In March, Anwar announced that the government would allocate a substantial amount of RM1 billion to generate a new generation of Bumiputera entrepreneurs in high-growth sectors. This initiative will be managed by government-linked investment companies. The initiative came as a response to the call for the establishment of a Bumiputera Transformation Acceleration Fund during the three-day Bumiputera Economic Congress held early last month.