Buchanan – As part of efforts to increase banking appetite among Liberians, the Bloom Bank Africa Liberia Limited over the weekend held it third “Aye Waste” Promo raffle draw in the Port City of Buchanan, Grand Bassa County.
By J.H. Webster Clayeh (0886729972)-[email protected]
The “Aye Waste” Promo Raffle Draw started in August of this year. The raffle draw in Buchanan City is the third after similar draws were conducted on Ashmun Street in Monrovia and Redlight Market in Paynesville.
Speaking to journalists after the conduct of the raffle draw, the Chief Operating Officer of Bloom Bank Africa Liberia Limited Chris Osisiogu said to be eligible for the draw, one needs to deposit 20,000 Liberian Dollars in any of branches of Bloom Bank.
“The idea of the “Aye Waste” Promo Raffle Draw is to encourage saving. We know that saving is not a culture a lot of people do. As a bank, because we are socially responsible, our ideas of banking is not so much about collecting from our customers, we want them to save, we want them to built that culture and habit of saving and at the same time we also want to reward them for saving,” Mr. Osisiogu said.
The Chief Operating Officer of Bloom Bank added: “We asked that them to bring at least 20,000 Liberian Dollars and deposit in their accounts. And for doing so, they leave the money for one month, they will get an exceptional interest rate of 10 percent.”
The more 20,000 Liberian Dollars a person have in their account, the more they become qualified for the “Aye Waste” Promo Raffle Draw, the Chief Operating Officer of Bloom Bank Liberia Limited said.
On how Liberians are responding to the “Aye Waste” Promo Raffle Draw, Mr. Osisiogu said more people are getting encouraged because of the benefits that the bank is giving to customers.
“The feedback has been good. We have customers come to participate deliberately. They come to us and say we are willing to put this money inside because we want to be part of it because we also want to save. So, it is helping people to have a target in saving,” Mr. Osisiogu said.
He added: “Before people would leave their money in their normal saving accounts and before they know they will start touching their accounts to use for something that they didn’t plan to use it for but with these promos we are running, it’s helping to teach people about the discipline of saving. So, the feedback has largely been positive.”
Bloom Bank is new in Liberia. However, Mr. Osisiogu said his aim is to refresh the bank in the mind of many Liberians something that will have a long-term benefit for the bank.
“Our gain is in the future as we build customers’ confidence,” the Chief Operating Officer of Bloom Bank Liberia Limited said.
During the “Aye Waste” Promo Raffle Draw the immediate past Minister of Public Works, Madam Ruth Coker-Collins won one 3.5 KVAgenerator and a TVS Star Motorbike motorbike.
Moses wheaton, a former winner of the Star Prize, told his story to the public, that the process is fair and that he is currently using the motorbike he won in traffic to generate income.
The raffle event was spearheaded by officials of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), who spun the wheel bearing the names of the qualified customers and asked any individual in the group to select just a ticket.
The names on the selected tickets were announced as winners. But if the name on a ticket was called three times without anyone answering, the ticket was discarded and another spin was done.
Beside Madam Collins, Octis Sunny won a cooking stove while other won umbrellas and other items.