NTUC and OCBC bank launch NTUC Plus Card
4 January 2008
Media Release
1. The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) members can now perform several daily activities conveniently, in addition to enjoying membership benefits, with just one card - the NTUC Plus Card. It was jointly unveiled by NTUC Link Pte Ltd and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC Bank) at the official launch at AMK Hub on Sunday, 6 January 2008.
2. The introduction of the enhanced membership benefits card, the NTUC Plus Card, is in line with the labour movement’s vision to create a better and more meaningful life for working people of all collars, ages and nationalities, at work, live and play. Said Mr Yeo Khee Leng, NTUC Member-Centric Director, ”As a caring and innovative labour movement, we are constantly looking at improving our members’ benefits and experience with creative solutions. We are proud to be the first in Singapore, in collaboration with OCBC Bank, to introduce a membership card that bundles a suite of useful features that promises greater convenience, as well as more and better benefits, for our members.”
3. He added, “Besides enjoying members’ benefits with the NTUC Plus card, NTUC members can now enjoy the convenience of using the same card to earn loyalty reward points, commute on public transport, make payments and perform banking transactions. This is in line with NTUC’s 3R[1] Membership Strategy to grow and strengthen the labour movement as we reach out to 1 million members by 2015. We do not just recruit members but strive to retain them and forge a strong relationship with them by better serving their needs.”
Benefits of the NTUC Plus Card
4. An upgrade from the existing NTUC membership card, the NTUC Plus Card offers enhanced benefits to NTUC members with the following functions:
5. The transition from the NTUC membership card to NTUC Plus Card was made for NTUC members to get more benefits out of their membership. To-date, about 32,000 NTUC members have upgraded to the NTUC Plus Card since November 2007. It is targeted for 150,000 members to enjoy benefits from the NTUC Plus Card by the end of 2008.
6. Mr Ryan Cheong, General Manager of NTUC Link Pte Ltd, said, “Over the years, we have been introducing different types of benefits and rewards to our members, from the LinkPoints Reward Programme, to credit and debit cards in collaboration with OCBC Bank. It is timely that we introduce one card that delivers all these benefits, and more, to our members to make their lives simpler and more convenient.” He continued, “We believe in working with enterprising partners to provide innovative benefits to our members. Partnering with OCBC Bank came naturally as we share the same strategic goal of serving the community to make people’s lives better with a convenient, multi-function card.”
7. Agreeing on the sensibility of consolidating various functions into one card, Mr Andrew Lee, OCBC Bank’s Head of Group Consumer Financial Services said, “Today’s consumers are highly selective about what cards go into their wallets. They want one that offers them convenience, value and rewards. The NTUC Plus Card does just that and we are pleased to support NTUC in yet another innovative endeavour to serve their members better.”
8. An early adopter of the NTUC Plus Card, Ms Chiang Pin Pin, a 32-year-old Senior Marketing Executive, said, “My husband and I originally signed up for the NTUC-OCBC card, him as the main cardholder, and myself as a supplementary cardholder. When we got to know about the new NTUC Plus card, we decided to upgrade as having the NTUC Plus card is free and it allows us the flexibility of payment and earning of LinkPoints.” She added, “This is particularly useful when we grocery shop at FairPrice, where we can monitor our spending with the monthly card statements, rather than by cash or NETS which can’t be tracked as easily. What’s more we can earn extra LinkPoints when we shop at LinkPoints merchants, allowing us to earn our points faster to offset our next purchase.”
(More quotes from other cardholders can be found at the end of this media release.)
Launch Event of the NTUC Plus Card
9. The NTUC Plus Card was officially launched on Sunday, 6 January 2008, at AMK Hub. During the launch event, NTUC members engaged in fun-filled stage and booth activities where participants walked away with prizes such as diamonds, household appliances, shopping sprees and special star-buys.
10. In addition, OCBC Bank presented a cheque of S$250,000 to the NTUC Eldercare Trust Fund in a Cheque Presentation Ceremony held in conjunction with the launch. This is part of a five-year commitment where OCBC Bank donates up to $250,000 annually to a charitable cause nominated by NTUC. The cheque was presented by Dr Cheong Choong Kong, Chairman of OCBC Bank to Mr Cyrille Tan, Vice President of the NTUC Central Committee and Trustee of the NTUC Eldercare Trust Fund; with Mr Lim Swee Say, NTUC Secretary-General, Mr Lim Boon Heng, Chairman of NTUC Eldercare Co-operative Limited, Mr Andrew Lee, Head of Group Consumer Financial Services of OCBC Bank and Mr David Conner, Chief Executive Officer of OCBC Bank as witnesses.
Moving forward, NTUC and OCBC Bank are committed to continue to introduce more relevant and innovative banking solutions to address the varied needs of NTUC members at different stages of their life so as to empower them to take greater control of their finances.
Mr Yeo Khee Leng
Director
Member-Centric
National Trades Union Congress
Mr Ryan Cheong
General Manager
NTUC Link Pte Ltd
Ms Lee Ee Ling
Senior Vice President
Customer Segment & Portfolio Management
OCBC Bank
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[1] 3R Membership Strategy was formulated by the NTUC as a holistic approach towards membership management: Recruitment, Retention, and Relationship.
[2] The 12 Social Enterprises of NTUC are:
NTUC Childcare Co-operative Limited, NTUC Choice Homes Co-operative Limited, NTUC Eldercare Co-operative Limited, NTUC FairPrice Co-operative Limited, NTUC Foodfare Co-operative Limited, NTUC Healthcare Co-operative Limited, NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative Limited, NTUC Media Co-operative Limited, NTUC Thrift & Loan Co-operative Limited, NTUC Club, NTUC LearningHub Pte Ltd and NTUC Link Pte Ltd.
[3] LinkPoints may be redeemed for free groceries, gifts and a host of other rewards. Visit www.linkpoints.com.sg for more information.
[4] A convenience fee of $0.25 per transaction is charged by EZ-Link. Other EZ-Link terms and conditions apply. Visit www.ezlink.com.sg for more information.
[5] Visit www.linkpointsgold.com.sg for more information on LinkPoints Gold Privilege Programme; and http://ocbc1.ocbc.com/online/me/creditcards/chox/home.jsp for more information on OCBC Privilege Programme.
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Other Quotes from NTUC Plus Card users:
1. “The NTUC Plus card appeals to me as it is an all-in-one card with credit, ATM, ez-link, and LinkPoints. The card even comes with an NTUC-OCBC Starter account, this means I don’t need to make the extra trip down to the bank to update my statement book, instead I get to receive monthly statements. I use NTUC Plus for my shopping, deposits and transportation (when I do not drive). One major advantage of NTUC Plus card is being able to apply for a supplementary card for my retired mother. She can now shop at FairPrice, will all her grocery expenses taken care of by me.”
- Ms Pearly Sim, 36-year-old Business Development Manager (mother of 2 sons age 5 and 8)
2. “I use the NTUC Plus card for purchasing of items at FairPrice outlets and cash withdrawal & transfer at OCBC ATMs. The NTUC Plus Card has certainly enable me to worry less when it comes to cash transactions involving OCBC or making purchases at FairPrice. Previously, prior to making any NETS purchases at a FairPrice outlet, I would have to search for both my LinkPoints card as well as the OCBC Card. More often than not, I would either forget to produce the LinkPoints card during purchasing or simply decide to make do without it. But with the NTUC Plus Card, both transactions can be accomplished simultaneously.”
- Mr Mohamad Iskandar bin Ishak, 26-year-old Teacher
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About National Trades Union Congress
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is a national confederation of trade unions in the industrial, service and public sectors representing 500,000 workers in Singapore. NTUC comprises 63 affiliated unions, six affiliated taxi associations, 12 social enterprises and three related organisations. NTUC’s objectives are to help Singapore stay competitive and workers remain employable for life; to enhance the social status and well-being of workers; and to build a strong, responsible and caring labour movement. NTUC's vision is to be an inclusive labour movement for all collars, all ages and all nationalities. For more details on NTUC, please visit our website at www.ntuc.org.sg
About NTUC Link Private Limited
NTUC Link Private Limited’s mission is to maximise benefits and provide real value in the LinkPoints Rewards Programme. Incorporated in 1998, it aims to bring greater value and savings to members by having a stream of quality merchants offering LinkPoints and attractive rewards. With more than 1 million members and over 600 participating merchant outlets, the LinkPoints Programme has grown to become one of the most popular rewards programmes in Singapore. For the last three years, members earned a total of $33 million worth of LinkPoints. The programme continues to have the highest redemption rate in Singapore as well as a strong and healthy response rate to the offers.
The LinkPoints Programme continues to strengthen its benefits for members and in the year 2006, the LinkPoints website was ranked #1 in the Hitwise Singapore for the Rewards category industry based on number of visits.
About OCBC Bank
Singapore's longest established local bank, OCBC Bank, currently has assets of S$170 billion and a network of more than 420 branches and representative offices in 15 countries and territories including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan, Brunei, Myanmar, Japan, Korea, Australia, UK and USA. This network includes more than 330 branches and offices in Indonesia operated by OCBC Bank’s subsidiary, PT Bank NISP. OCBC Bank and its banking subsidiaries offer a wide range of specialist financial services, from consumer, corporate, investment, private and transaction banking to global treasury and stockbroking services to meet the needs of its customers across communities.
OCBC Bank’s insurance subsidiary, Great Eastern Holdings, is the largest insurance group in Singapore and Malaysia, in terms of assets and market share, and its asset management subsidiary, Lion Capital Management, is one of the largest asset management companies in Southeast Asia. Additional information may be found at www.ocbc.com.
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