FGB launches High School Affinity Visa Card
Published:Tuesday | March 15, 2016 | 11:29 AMDaviot Kelly
With the 2016 ISSA/ GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletic Championships in mind, First Global Bank (FGB) showed perfect timing in launching its High School Affinity Visa card.
The launch was held last Tuesday, the first day of Champs 2016, at the Spanish Court Hotel. Representatives from the first five schools to join up, namely Kingston College, Jamaica College, Calabar High, St George's College and Wolmer's High School for Boys, were present.
"When you use your card as normal to shop, one per cent of every purchase will go towards supporting your alma mater," said Peter Lindo, assistant vice-president of marketing and corporate communications at FGB. "This card is for special people ... for people who really love their old school, and so the sacrifice is not much," he said. "It's really about passion, pride and giving back, and we've made giving back very, easy."
specially adorned
The High School Affinity cards are specially adorned with the crest and motto of the participating schools. Dalton Fowles, vice-president of e-Business at FGB, who conceptualised the card as far back as 2008, said the card is a Gold card product, and comes with all the standard benefits of a Visa card, including travel accident insurance and free auto rental.
Being a FGB card, customers also get their real-time fraud alert. He also said persons did not have to be alumni to choose a school to support. He quoted year-over-year figures based on the Statistical Digest published by the central bank.
"Up to March 2015 ... Jamaican consumers spent J$178 billion at point of sale," Fowles said. "So the pie is really large in terms of continuous spending in credit cards. Schools have a genuine reason to participate in this programme because there is money to be shared and given back to your schools." The qualifying salary is $2.5 million and there will be an annual fee of $5,000.
"The first school to get to 500 members, signed up on or before December 31, will get a bonus of half a million Jamaican dollars," he said. This is FGB's first year as a sponsor of Champs and Lindo and Fowles both noted discussions were under way with other schools, including all-girls' institutions and rural area schools. Lindo is confident other schools will not need much coaxing to sign up.