Diamond Bank Plc, Nigeria’s leading retail bank, has rewarded 41 loyal customers at the DiamondXtra Savings South-West regional draw held at the Diamond UCH branch in Ibadan on Tuesday, May 10, 2016.
A breakdown of the awards showed that an Ibadan –based customer of the bank, Mr. Oladayo Oduwole, won the grand prize of brand SUV car, 11 customers emerged winners of N1m (one million naira) each while 30 customers won N500,000 (five hundred thousand naira) each.
The awardees were applauded by past winners drawn from the region as well as other customers of the bank as well as wishers.
In her address of welcome, Mrs. Aisha Ahmmad, Head Consumer & Privilege Banking, Diamond Bank, thanked all for attending the draw stating that without them it would not have been possible. She added that Diamond Bank is committed to the saving culture of Nigerians and will always encourage and reward savings.
“We at Diamond bank have always encouraged a good saving culture among Nigerians because we know the power of saving and how it can transform family and the economy of a nation and with DiamondXtra we are happy we are able to help people save to achieve their dreams and reward them in the process. And today forty-one persons will get rewarded for saving which is a hallmark of Diamond Bank; for we are in the habit of changing lives,” she said.
Also speaking at the event, the state Co-ordinator National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Mr. Fasuhanmi Omotayo, applauded the bank for helping in changing the fortunes of Nigerians through the Diamondxtra savings scheme and said that he was present to monitor the draw and ensure it was done transparently.
In the same vein, Mr. Kenneth Ukanwa, a manager with KPMG, explained that KPMG has an application that selects eligible customers for the draw and it is done randomly and programmed that only customers of the bank in the South-west, except Lagos, get to win the 41 prices.
The Diamondxtra Savings Account gives 15 customers on that bank’s platform opportunity to be rewarded. 13 customers get N1m (one million naira) on the last Friday of every month while one customer gets N2m (two million naira) while one customer gets Salary for Life and also has a chance to participate in regional draws.
However, the more you save the better your chances of being rewarded. Since inception about eight years ago, Diamond Bank has so far rewarded 4,000 customers to the tune of more than N400 billion.
Mr. Olatunji Adekunle, a 2009 winner of Salary for Life, narrated how he was still in shock that for the past seven years as he has been receiving a monthly salary of N100,000 from the bank for doing nothing.
“When I received the phone call that I had won Salary for Life, I was very skeptical about it because I had an initial experience where I was called by official of another bank only for it to be a fraud. However, I went to my branch and met my account officer who confirmed it from head-quarters.
“And after I filled all the necessary documents I have been receiving the N100,000 every month since October,2009 and still can’t believe that I still have 13 more years to receive it,” he said.
Another Salary of Life winner, Ayotokun Olukanmi Dare, said that he opened his Diamondxtra Savings Account in April, 2015 without really having the intention of becoming a winner but to just save his money, only for him to get a call in February, 2016 that he had won the coveted prize.
According to him, Diamond Bank has changed his orientation about banks and he knows there are only two banks in Nigeria, Diamond Bank and the others.
