If this sounds like a rant to you, may be it is. I am pretty annoyed that in the eight years I have spent living in Nigeria, we are yet to have a bank card that offers mileage points for card spending. Give me and fellow travelers some sort of break please. I miss the days of spending my US bank card at a grocery store and know that my purchase of pepper at $3 means I just got 3 points added to my travel miles. It promotes loyalty to the bank that offers the advantage and based on how high a spender I am for the year, I get to travel at a much lowered cost. Sometimes, almost free! Let us not get started on the loyalty levels and upgrades to business class or first class in Nigeria.
Banks in Nigeria are definitely making a killing in profits and I reckon the ones trying to find an edge over the top 3 market players need to find a way to get a sizable chunk of the pie. The fact is, Nigerians are the most well traveled lot in Africa with the largest population of people…hint, hint!! Time to wake up guys!
Please banks, biko, the lounge access some of you offer to your premium customers are lovely, but abeg, add travel points to the mix (and fair ones too please). Serious side eye at the voucher purchase KLM/Air France offer on Jumia. Who that one epp?
Also GTB, what is up with the Platinum Mastercard card that has no travel benefits? When I got the invitation for the card some years ago, I expected some red carpet benefits like travel points, or even lounge access that Diamond bank offers…but nada.
Nigerian banks, kindly step up your game.
