Olesea Kyrpalov, Orchestra Lead Retail Daily Banking at maib, discussed in an interview with the journalist Pavel Zingan how gama cardholders can manage cashback as they wish.
Olesea, hello. Analysing your position in maib, the first question comes by itself. What is Retail Daily Banking? What is this orchestra within maib responsible for?
Retail Daily Banking is the team that develops and optimises financial tools designed to make everyday banking more convenient and accessible for our customers. I took over the leadership of this Orchestra on New Year's Eve, and it has opened up exciting opportunities and new challenges, which I look forward to with optimism and determination.
Is your experience related to banking, or have you worked in another field?
My entire professional career is related to banking. The only time I worked in a field other than banking was during my student years. Back then, I combined my studies with my work in an auditing company.
Have you been dreaming of the Big Four?
Yes, I worked at Ernst & Young. It was a unique challenge that I gladly accepted. Apart from this experience, my career has been mainly in banking, and I have been very proud to contribute to the maib team for the last three years.
Back to maib. What are the main focuses of your team's work?
Our main focus is the development of banking products and services. We aim to offer our customers the widest possible range of opportunities and convenience of use. At the same time, we strive to make our products available across all channels.
The notion of products means...
Payment cards, current accounts, deposit accounts, everything that’s not related to crediting activity.
Let's discuss the maib gama card. It's in your wallet, mine and probably still in over 100,000 Moldovans’ wallets.
Already, more than 170 000 customers enjoy all the benefits of the maib gama card.
How would you define the maib gama card? However, it's not just a debit card.
The maib gama card is an unusual card with a history of development and innovation. It's not just a debit card but one specially designed for shopping. Importantly, this debit card can easily be turned into a credit card. The option to open a credit limit is available directly in the mobile app, so the customer can still enjoy shopping, even when temporarily he or she is lacking funds.
If I remember correctly, maib gama, as a product, came out three years ago?
You are right. The gama card was launched three years ago. From the beginning, it was conceived as a unique product that would allow customers to get cashback on purchases.
But does cashback imply partnership relationships between the bank, merchants, and service providers?
Indeed, to implement cashback, partnership relationships between the bank, merchants, and service providers must be established. It is important to note that the number of partners is steadily increasing due to the attractiveness of this loyalty program and the bank's active efforts to promote its network of range partners. Today, we already have more than 1200 partners offering up to 15% cashback. At the same time, we continue to develop and add options. For example, cashback can now be accumulated.
So, can I, as a user, choose between simply getting cashback and accumulating it?
Exactly. We recently launched a new service—cashback management. Now, the customer can accumulate cashback for unexpected expenses or planned purchases. At the same time, the information is presented visually so he can instantly see how the amount accumulated grows, which they can withdraw from any card when needed.
I've written a few articles about increased cashback for certain periods. Does this practice still exist?
Yes, so far. Before the holidays, maib gama customers start to search for information about partners offering bigger discounts, so more and more retailers are getting involved in this promotion.
You mention "gama holders", but gama includes several types of cards, doesn't it?
We have tailored the card types to the needs of each customer segment. Gama premium is designed for customers who love to travel and appreciate comfort. The card offers a wide range of additional services: access to airport lounge areas, travel insurance, and cashback on purchases, including abroad. Gama universal is designed for customers who do shopping in the Republic of Moldova. We cannot fail to mention the success of the maib junior card, which provides cashback for children and teenagers. It is exciting for children to see how their cashback savings grow when shopping.
A rich history of the product for three years...
Every anniversary has been a reason for new achievements and innovations in our three-year product history. On each anniversary, we present something new: three years ago, the first gama card. One year later, maib junior, the card for children and teenagers, and after another year, the digital gama card, which can be opened directly in the maibank app without leaving the comfort of your home or office.
I missed this information...
Even without being a bank customer, you can easily become one via the maibank mobile app and instantly open a digital gama card, which will become active in an instant. This is extremely convenient when you discover significant cashback in-store and want to use it right then and there. It makes sense, doesn't it?
This year, we've given customers the role of managing cashback, which allows them to accumulate cashback for future purchases or unexpected expenses. Now, customers can save money for something important and even fulfil their biggest dreams.
I can only imagine how exciting it is for children.
I can confirm this from my personal experience. For children, using maib junior becomes an exciting journey. My daughter eagerly follows every purchase and enjoys watching her cashback grow in the app. Interestingly, even when she receives cash as a gift, she prefers to transfer it to her card to see her balance grow and have complete control over her resources.
Theoretically, with each step in the development of the maib gama, the network of partners should also grow as the number of customers increases, which is also beneficial for partners...
With each step in the development of gama, our partner network gets bigger and bigger, which benefits us and our partners. We are working hard to improve our customers' experience and promote our partners. It's not just about stickers on doors and cash registers - we often send our customers personalised thank you messages for their purchases and indicate the amount of cashback. Soon, a partner platform with a convenient interface will appear in the maibank app, creating a true ecosystem.
And that's not all. I won't reveal all the secrets, but we are preparing many interesting innovations for customers.
