Jýsan Bank Releases its Travel Card in 16 Currencies
Almaty, Kazakhstan, 20 December 2019.
Jýsan Bank, a bank that operates 120 branches all over Kazakhstan, has released a new multi-currency product, the Travel Card. It gives cardholders access to a multi-currency account in 16 currencies used in the most popular travel destinations for Kazakhs.
With the new card, travelers are freed from additional conversion fees in the eurozone, Australia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States. In the near future the number of supported currencies will expand to 20, with four more countries to be added, among which are Georgia and Thailand.
Besides all the advantages of a multi-currency account, benefits for Travel Card customers include bonuses of 10 percent of flight tickets and hotel reservations, cash withdrawal at international ATMs up to 4 million tenge without fees, and free global Wi-Fi access, even on flights.
“Every year, half a million Kazakhs spend around 3 billion USD overseas: on flights, hotel reservations, daily expenses and shopping,” comments Larisa Belova, Managing Director at Jýsan Bank. “70% of Kazakh tourists pay by card and we can help them not just save money during their vacations but also receive some of those funds back.”
Travel Card holders can accrue bonuses when purchasing flight and railway tickets or making hotel reservations through the Jýsan 24 mobile app and manage them in the Travel section of the app’s interface. These bonuses are 5 percent of the first purchase and 10 percent of all subsequent purchases with no exceptions. With any Travel Card purchase customers receive a bonus of 1 percent of the purchased amount, and 2 percent when paying for tourism and recreational services. Bonuses can be applied towards the purchase of travel tickets and hotel reservations through the Travel tab in the Jýsan 24 mobile app.
The Travel Card allows no-fee cash withdrawals at international ATMs in listed countries of up to 4 million tenge per month (approx. 10,600 USD), also up to 300 thousand tenge per month (approx. 800 USD) at any bank’s ATM within Kazakhstan.
“The most popular destinations for Kazakhs have long been Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. But no Kazakh bank had yet offered a card where both Turkish liras and Emirati dirhams could be used. Holders of the Travel Card can save money and avoid double conversion fees because conversion occurs directly without an extra conversion to the American dollar. In this way, savings on currency conversion on average is more than 1 percent of any transaction, and customers do not need to worry about whether their funds are affected by fluctuating exchange rates. Customers can convert the funds they need by making a single click in the Jýsan 24 mobile app and selecting an amount from their main tenge amount. Then they can be on their way!” explains Larisa Belova.
Travel Cards can be ordered within a Travel or Travel+ service package. The yearly subscription for the Travel service package is free for the first year and 2000 tenge (approx. 5 USD) for each subsequent year. For Travel+, the subscription fee is 5000 tenge yearly (approx. 13 USD). The Travel+ package includes all services in the Travel package along with access to all Lounge Key business lounges in 180 airports, as well as unlimited Wi-Fi at any of more than a million Boingo hotspots around the world.
Travel Cards may be ordered online through the Jýsan 24 mobile app or directly at a branch of Jýsan Bank.
Background
First Heartland Jýsan Bank, a joint-stock company and formerly known as Tsesnabank, has been working in the Kazakh financial market since 1992. As of today, Jýsan Bank operates 120 branches all over Kazakhstan.
Jýsan Bank offers its private and corporate customers a wide range of banking services including opening and servicing current accounts, international payment cards, credit, deposits, and money transfers in Kazakhstan and abroad.
Joint-Stock Company First Heartland Securities is the investment branch of the financial holding company belonging to Nazarbayev University and Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, a group of autonomous educational institutions. On February 6, 2019, it gained 99.8% of the bank’s stock, after which it gained a new development strategy and underwent a rebranding as Jýsan Bank (written according to in the currently used Kazakh Latin alphabet).
On August 12, 2019, S&P Global Ratings gave Jýsan Bank a new rating of “positive” from its previous “stable” rating and confirmed a long-term and short-term issuer credit rating of В-/В. At the same time, the bank’s rating on Kazakhstan’s national rating scale was raised from “kzBB-“ to “kzBB”.
Source: Banker.kz
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