OREANDA-NEWS. April 23, 2013. Over 150,000 unique clients or more than 20% of the bank’s active private clients have chosen gifts or the option to save on banking services in the almost two years that they have been accumulating reward points for making card payments – meaning that over 64 million points have been used in total.

Head of Retail Banking at Swedbank Ulla Ilisson says that free banking services and donating to charities have so far been the most popular options. “It’s good to see that the financial awareness of our clients is improving, as many of them are choosing free banking products and services for their points,” she explained. “Free intrabank payments and discounts on credit card interest rates have proven to be the most popular offers.”

Ilisson added that some clients save their points for bigger and more expensive gifts whilst others use their points for cheaper gifts every month. “All clients of Swedbank who make payments with cards meant for private persons accumulate reward points and we therefore update the gift selection constantly, with offers available for different numbers of points. We add different gifts and services, as it’s important to us that clients of all ages find something suitable. That’s why our selection contains gifts for children, young people, seniors and others.”

Ilisson says that Swedbank’s clients have accumulated approximately 135 million points in their accounts. “We advise all clients to keep an eye on their points in the Internet Bank, as we add great offers to the Reward Programme every month. The points they’ve collected in recent years will start expiring soon, which is why they should use them.”

Swedbank’s reward points are accumulated for payments made with debt and credit cards issued to private persons. The programme only covered credit cards in the past, but the bank expanded it to include debit cards in October 2011.

The gifts that have recently gained greatly in popularity are discount vouchers, which are available for small numbers of points and can be used to purchase services and goods from Swedbank’s partners. For example, you can order discount vouchers that give 50% off goods and services for just 5 points.

Information about Swedbank’s rewards programme is available online at www.swedbank.ee/preemiapunktid.