From John Silas, Lagos
Dominic Akaraka, an Access Bank customer and trader in Ogbaru Market, Onitsha, Anambra State and over 1,000 customers across Nigeria emerged winners at the second quarterly draw of the DiamondXtra Season 12 reward scheme held in Lagos recently.
Speaking shortly after receiving the Salary-4-Life cheque at his branch in Onitsha, 59-year-old Dominic expressed his excitement and told newsmen that he has been a customer of Access Bank for more than 10years, adding that Nigerians should partake in the initiative as it is real.
He said, “I have been banking with Access Bank for more than 10 years now. The first time I got a call from the Bank that I won the star prize, I warned the person not to call me again and I hung up the phone thinking it was a fraudster but when they called again, I decided to give them a listening ear only to discover when I visited my branch that I have won the star prize of Salary-4-Life which means I would be paid N100,000 every month for 20 years. I am too excited and short of words. I am 59 years old with a wife and six children.
“Before I got this call from Access Bank, I and my family have been going through financial challenges and business has been very slow and unprofitable due to the lockdown and restriction of business activities within the state.
“All my fellow traders are aware already and are opening the DiamondXtraaccount. I will encourage my friends and family members to bank with Access Bank so that they can partake in this initiative because it has salvaged my financial situation. I feel like am still dreaming. Thank you Access Bank,” Akaraka stated.
Also speaking at the prize presentation ceremony, Head, Retail Product insight and Capabilities, Access Bank Plc, Rob Giles, noted that the bank has kept its promise of keeping the initiative going and growing. Giles revealed that over N5.4 billion in prize money has been doled out while adding that the Bank recently launched a variant of DiamondXtra tagged “Xtrawins” where customers are rewarded with daily, weekly and monthly cash rewards.
He said, “We are trying to make the prizes more accessible so that more Nigerians can win every year, and the introduction of the XtraWins daily draws allows us reward more customers frequently. The special thing about DiamondXtra Season 12 is the difference we are making in the lives of our customers.
“Today, we have 5winners who have emerged winners in the following categories: Salary-4-Life, Rent Allowance for a year, N1million Business Grant as well as, the latest reward category, Family Health Insurance cover for a year which we introduced to assist families secure access to quality health as a way of providing more relevant support to our customers in the current pandemic situation. Other prize categories won include, N500,000, N100,000 and much more. This savings scheme has been a success since its launch in 2008 and we intend to keep on impacting our customers positively.”
Corroborating his words, Head, Consumer Banking, Access Bank Plc, Adaeze Ume, explained that the motivation behind the XtraWins initiative was born out of the need to transform the lives of customers during these covid-19 times.
“In our own little way of showing appreciation to our customers for their patronage and loyalty, the bank launched the XtraWins rewards – a campaign that rewards customers with daily, weekly and monthly cash prizes ranging from N500 – N1million when they maintain a minimum of N1,000 in their accounts and conduct at least 3 transactions daily using our USSD service *901# or any of our mobile apps to purchase airtime, pay bills, transfer funds, etc. The beauty about the Xtrawins campaign is that winners emerge everyday and we have rewarded over 8,000 customers in 9 weeks,” Adaeze concluded.
DiamondXtra is an interest yielding hybrid account which allows deposit of both cash and third party cheques. Hybrid means a combination of both savings and current account features. The reward scheme has given away over N5 billion in cash and household items to over 15,000 loyal customers over the last 10 years.
