In a bid to introduce saving habits to children DFCC Vardhana Junior Product was relaunched, said Anton Arumugam, Vice President, and Institutional Banking and Product Development.
"The objective was to reach out to children and to generate interest in them to open accounts and save, rather than following the traditional practice of promoting Children’s savings to parents only," he said.
As responsible Bank that is interested in the financial growth of customers, we want to encourage the habit of saving as we feel it is an important habit for children to secure their future.
Following is an interview with Anton Arumugam on the relaunch of DFCC Vardhana Junior Product.
Q: Could you give us a description about DFCC Vardhana Junior (VJ) product?
A: The Vardhana Junior product was recently re-launched by DFCC Bank to further strengthen its position as one of the leading savings products in the country and what makes it unique is the wide range of gifts offered to inculcate the habit of saving into children at a young age.
This is a tiered product- which means that when an account holder reached certain savings tiers, they are eligible to receive attractive gifts. The more they save; they receive higher value in terms of the gifts offered. Accordingly, Vardhana Junior accounts opened with Rs. 1,000, Rs. 5000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 30,000 will be eligible to redeem gifts such as a till, school bag, world globe, stationery pack and scooter respectively. Meanwhile, Vardhana Junior accounts opened with deposits of Rs. 50,000, Rs. 100,000, Rs. 150,000, Rs. 250,000 and Rs. 500,000 are entitled to redeem exclusive gifts such as a Bluetooth radio/vouchers for books or shoes, mountain bike, smartphone, tab and laptop. Account holders also have the option to forego the gift and instead add its value to the account, further growing savings.
Q: What are the new features introduced through the revamped VJ product?
A: As I mentioned previously, what is unique about this revamped product is the range of attractive gifts on offer.
Further, we are also concerned with encouraging academic excellence amongst students and the gift scheme was devised based on this principle. Therefore, the gifts offered from school bags to stationary packs and laptops are education related.
Moreover, we also introduced a scheme to reward those who save frequently.. Accordingly Account Holders who have crossed the Rs. 50,000 Tier will receive Shoes or Stationary every year when they save more with DFCC Vardhana Junior.
Q: Are there any special benefits for Grade 5 Scholarship Students?
A: While savings are rewarded in the form of gifts, we also wanted to reward students who perform well in their studies as we want to have children focused on education. The Grade 5 Scholarship exam is of great importance for Students and we wanted motivate them to work towards achieving higher results in the examinations by rewarding students who perform well. The general tendency is for the Top ranked students to be recognized, but we wanted to reach out to the masses and therefore came up with a scheme to reward every student who scores more than 150 Marks at the Grade 5 Scholarship examination.
Therefore each and every student who scores more than 150 marks at the exam will receive Rs. 150 for every mark scored above 150.
To further drive this proposition, DFCC Bank organised Vardhana Junior scholarship seminars in ten locations across the country. These seminars were carried out in collaboration with the Zonal Education Offices and under the supervision of the past Teachers and Principals Association in order to ensure that this initiative is strictly monitored and required standards are maintained.
Over 300 students were coached in each location in preparation for the upcoming examination. Furthermore, during these sessions, a special workshop was also held for their parents by specialist lecturers who shared knowledge on preparing children for the exam, parenting tips and more.
Q: What are your objectives by re-launching this product?
A: The objective was to reach out to children and to generate interest in them to open an account and save, rather than following the traditional practice of promoting Children’s savings to parents only. DFCC Bank is committed to make savings a fun habit for children and we wish to take them on a fun filled journey where their Savings also grow, thus bringing some form of security for their future. We not only need to simply promote more savings but also make children understand the value of money and groom them to carefully manage their finances as they grow up to be adults, by showing them that savings indeed is rewarding and beneficial in many forms.
Q: Are there any other savings products offered by DFCC Bank, for children?
A: Yes, we also offer the Vardhana Junior PLUS product for Children. VJ PLUS offers a higher interest rate and would appeal to Customers who are focused on earning more interest on their savings as opposed to Vardhana Junior which offers gifts and benefits in addition to standard interest on savings.
Q: Do you have any final message to Children or Parents reading this?
A: Vardhana Junior is the most attractive Children’s savings scheme and we would be glad to welcome you to the scheme. Children are the nation’s future and we take pride in helping them grow and secure their future. DFCC is committed to introducing many more unique product offerings to make savings more fun and rewarding to our valued Customers driven by the latest technology. More details could be obtained from DFCC Branch and our staff on Vardhana Junior and Vardhana Junior Plus savings solutions.
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