Mashreq card offers 10% cashback on school fees

Mashreq Bank introduces cashback reward that is linked to education expenses through its new SmartSaver Titanium credit card.

Mashreq Bank is offering parents a 10 per cent cashback on education fees through its SmartSaver Titanium credit card. Amy Leang / The National

Credit cards and cashback rewards go hand in hand these days, but the feature is usually applied to what is considered frivolous spend - dining out, shopping and hotel stays, just to name a few.

Mashreq Bank, however, has introduced a programme that is more worthwhile to parents: a 10 per cent cashback reward that is linked to education expenses through its new SmartSaver Titanium credit card.

A recent study conducted by Mashreq found that 68 per cent of the lender's customers felt that school fees in the Emirates were extremely high.

"Increasing school fees in the UAE is a growing concern for many parents and in a move to assist, Mashreq has created an opportunity for parents to cut down school costs by 10 per cent, be it local or international," the bank says.

The cashback offer on the SmartSaver Titanium credit card is valid until January 31.

"To tackle the rising cost of living, we have created a simple and easy-to-comprehend product that provides genuine savings on every day spends," says Nimish Dwivedi, the bank's head of payments.

"To reward our customers even more, we are the first institution to provide a never-before saving of 10 per cent on all education expenses. This is based on the insight that education expenses form a significant chunk of our customers' household expenditure."

In addition to the school-fee offer, cardholders will also receive 1.25 per cent cashback on local purchases and 3.25 per cent on international buys.

Go to www.mashreqbank.com for details.

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Noor Islamic Bank (NIB) has entered the digital banking world with a new application that it hopes will soon allow customers to deposit their cheques securely.

The lender's Bank In Your Hand app, for smartphones and tablet computers, will be available to download from next month. The app offers the usual range of banking services: opening an account, money transfers and utility bill payments. However, the most interesting feature is that customers could use it to deposit cheques.

NIB, owned by Noor Investment Group and the Emirates Investment Authority, says it is currently seeking approval from the Central Bank to offer this service on the app, which would allow customers to scan cheques onto their smartphones or tablet computers.

"Next generation Noor customers will not want to visit a bank branch for their day-to-day banking needs, says Hussain Al Qemzi, the chief executive of NIB. "They will want access to banking services and products on their smartphones and tablets."

Check out www.noorbank.com for more information.