Realizing that many customers were often frustrated with pre-determined credit card benefits that may not fully apply to them, Maybank wanted to relaunch its flagship product, the Maybank Family & Friends Card, to address this issue. The benefits of the highly customizable card impressed the judges, winning the gold award for excellence in personalization marketing at INTERACTIVE-MARKETING‘s Marketing Excellence Awards Singapore 2021.

Challenge

In today’s credit card market, customers are often frustrated with pre-determined card benefits that may not be entirely relevant to them. Therefore, customers should apply for multiple cards to take advantage of the different benefits offered on various card programs. Additionally, the card benefits offered on their existing cards may also become obsolete as they progress through different life stages.

Previous Maybank Family & Friends card cashback categories were determined by the bank using historical customer data on their spending behavior. Despite using data to organize the main cashback categories essential for the product, Maybank was still unable to cater to all customers of different lifestyles and life stages.

Strategy

Maybank wanted to create a timeless card that would increase new customer acquisition of all ages and lifestyles, improve customer engagement by allowing personalization of their benefits across cashback categories, improve customer retention by staying relevant throughout their different stages of life and would give clients the flexibility to change their benefits annually. Thus, Maybank has relaunched the Friends & Family card with fully customizable benefits, as well as a communication plan to raise awareness of the relaunch of the card.

Execution

Maybank first needed to develop the system’s capability to facilitate customization of card design and cashback categories. The bank then organized eight comprehensive categories of cashback that would be relevant for individuals of different age groups. These eight cashback categories were groceries, restaurant and food delivery, transportation, data communication and online TV streaming, retail and pets, online fashion , entertainment, pharmacy and wellness.

To resonate with today’s digitally savvy customers, customers can also make the selection of their preferred cashback categories through Maybank’s mobile lifestyle app – Maybank TREATS SG.

Maybank has also introduced two new card designs to appeal to younger customers. With recent studies showing that minimalist card designs are gaining popularity among millennials, Maybank Singapore has collaborated with Mastercard to develop two new card designs available in Silver Chrome and Lilac Chrome.

A “Benefit Optimiser” dashboard in the TREATS SG app has been developed to help cardholders track their spending in each category. This dashboard also lets cardholders know if they have met the required spend for the month to be eligible for the 8% cashback, as well as the cashback awarded in each category based on the amount of their spend. With this feature, customers can now better plan their spending in the different categories they have selected to maximize their monthly cashback.

Maybank took a multi-channel approach to publicize the relaunch of the Family & Friends card. The goal was to drive visits to the Family & Friends Take Control web page home page to drive consideration and sign-ups, as well as broaden the reach of key audience segments to drive consideration. To introduce the new Maybank Family & Friends benefits, Maybank used videos shot in 4:5 aspect ratio to fill the entire mobile screen to create a better viewing experience for customers who are on the phone most of the time. The videos were placed on select traditional, digital and OOH advertising channels such as social media sites and shopping malls.

Mid- to high-level KOLs were engaged to promote the card by showcasing their spending at grocery stores, riding at MRT stations, and other activities related to their selected cashback benefits. For existing customers, Maybank adapted the creative and communicated it on internal channels such as ATMs and the Maybank Treats SG app. Text messages were also sent to existing Family & Friends cardholders to communicate new card benefits.

Results

The relaunch of the Family & Friends card gave customers flexibility, from choosing their card design to their cashback categories. With the market moving towards digitalization, the relaunch of the Family & Friends card offers cardholders the ability to select their benefits as well as track their expenses and ease of repayment, leading to more customer engagement. higher and greater customer loyalty.