UOB is adding “entertainment” as a new pillar for its credit cards after seeing success in its recent campaigns. The bank’s current pillars are shop, dine, travel and e-commerce.
In June, the bank announced that it was the official bank and presale partner for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour while it announced that it will be the regional presenting sponsor for the Ed Sheeran Mathematics Tour in October.
According to Jacquelyn Tan, head of group personal financial services at UOB, entertainment is coming up as a “promising” category.
To be sure, the bank saw 45% growth in its daily application submissions for its credit cards after the announcement of pre-sale tickets for Taylor Swift’s six concerts in Singapore. Debit cards saw a 50% growth in its daily application submissions after the announcement.
The pre-sale tickets for Swift’s six shows that will be happening in Singapore in March 2024, are sold out.
Similarly, the bank saw a sell-out in pre-sale tickets for Ed Sheeran’s concerts. Sheeran’s concerts will be taking place in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia from February to March 2024.
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According to Tan, pre-sale tickets for Sheeran’s shows sold out within 100 minutes in Singapore and within 24 hours in Thailand. The highest sales volumes were from Malaysia while its Singapore customers spent the most for Sheeran’s overseas shows.
Looking ahead, Tan reveals that the bank will work on two global partnerships a year, with more access to meet-and-greet sessions, concerts and festivals across the region.
The bank will also focus on global artists for the region along with riding on the K-pop wave among other initiatives.
In the 3QFY2023 ended Sept 30, UOB announced a 14% y-o-y growth in net fee income of $591 million. During the quarter, the growth was attributed mainly to credit card fees, wealth management fees, as well as loan-related fees.
Card fees, in particular, nearly doubled to a record high of $104 million.
In a Bloomberg Intelligence report, analyst Rena Kwok noted that credit cards looked set to become a “bright spot” as all three banks are estimated to see expansions in their fee income for the FY2023.
Among the three banks, UOB’s credit card contribution could see the biggest y-o-y growth in FY2023.
Shares in UOB closed 78 cents higher or 2.90% up at $27.71 on Nov 3.
