Maybank sees competitive advantage in co-branded credit card with Shopee
By Tan Jee Yee June 30, 2020
- Visa Malaysia says card comes at perfect time for all three parties
- Maybank expects 40k signups, users earn Shopee Coins from online & offline purchases
Shopee, alongside Maybank and Visa, has introduced the Maybank Shopee Credit Card. This lifestyle and e-commerce platinum card rewards users with Shopee Coins for all of their spending using the card, whether it’s online or offline.
The launch of the card seems to be capitalising on shifting consumer behaviour. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting movement control order (MCO), Malaysians are turning to e-commerce to obtain their essentials – Shopee noted that consumers spend an average of 20% more time on their platform a week.
It’s a shift observed by Maybank as well. “Between 2017 and 2019, we saw a 43% jump in our card billings for e-commerce platforms which indicates a significant shift towards online shopping,” says Maybank’s Community Financial Services group CEO John Chong during the virtual launch of the card.
“This partnership with Shopee will allow us to create value for our customers and give us a competitive advantage to further strengthen our leadership in the cards business. With the unique value proposition of the Maybank Shopee Credit Card and growing adoption of e-commerce, we anticipate this card will be a popular choice amongst Malaysian shoppers and are expecting a strong uptake,” he adds with the bank targeting 40,000 signups by year end.
Shopee Malaysia marketing lead Lok Weng Lum, points to the synergies of each partner in the collaboration. “Both of us have a customer base that significantly overlaps. What we want to do here is to create impact on the communities that we serve, and with this we are able to expand our reach,” he tells Digital News Asia during a virtual Q&A.
According to Visa Malaysia country manager Ng Kong Boon (pic, left), e-commerce in Malaysia is growing five times faster compared to face-to-face shopping. “We also see that one in eight active Visa cardholders who did not use e-commerce last year made their first purchase online this year with the top categories including essential goods and services, and retail purchases.”
Believing this to be a key partnership, Ng explains: “We have the largest bank in the country and the largest e-commerce platform in Malaysia, with Visa being the largest payment network in Malaysia and globally as well. This partnership definitely brings a lot of benefits [to us]. At this moment, we are looking at gaining a lot of transactions through digital and this card comes at a perfect timing for all of us.”
How it works
The Maybank Shopee Credit Card, which will be available 1 July 2020, allows users to earn Shopee Coins (much like credit card points) for their online and offline spend. On top of that, cardholders will also earn more rewards when they spend during Shopee’s selected campaigns.
On the 28th of every month, they will also receive 5x Shopee Coins for purchases on Shopee; 4x Shopee Coins for their dining, entertainment and contactless payments and 1x Shopee Coins for all other transactions when they use this card.
How does that benefit users? Well, the accumulated Shopee Coins enable users to offset future purchases on the platform, and redeem vouchers including F&B and services from the Daily Coins Rewards feature on the App. Moreover, earnings beyond 5,000 Shopee Coins each month will be rewarded in the form of Maybank TreatsPoints which cardholders can use to redeem gifts from Maybank.
Malaysians between the ages of 21 and 65 and with an annual income of US$8,400 (RM36,000) are eligible and successful applicants will be treated to a welcome offer of 5,000 Shopee Coins when they spend US$70 (RM300) within 60 days. There will be a lifetime annual waiver for the card.
The Maybank Shopee Credit Card launch is part of the 7.7 Mid Year Sale, happening now till 7 July. Early birds who sign up for the card by 7 July will receive Shopee Vouchers worth RM500 when they spend RM300 within 45 days (on first come, first served basis).
As for whether or not he can see similar collaborations in other countries Shopee operates in, Lok says that they won’t say no to future opportunities. “We are definitely open to that. This is something that we will consider on a case to case basis, but in general we are definitely looking for any partners who will like to help us move the needle.”
Earlier this year, data from online shopping aggregator platform iPrice Group found that Shopee was the e-commerce site with the most visitors in Malaysia during the first quarter of 2020, receiving 81.82 million visits (on both desktop and mobile phones), compared to Lazada’s 36.96 million.
In conjunction with the launch, Shopee and Maybank will be presenting the Shopee 7.7 Maybank Concert, set to air from 9pm to midnight on 6 July via Shopee Live, Astro Prima and YouTube.
