Niluka Gunatilake, Senior Vice President – Cards and Consumer Assets of Nations Trust Bank PLC, says the bank entered the credit card fray in 2003, a decade later than most of its peers. “Remarkably,” he observes, “By 2018, we became the market leader with a credit card customer base and network of merchants that was the largest in the country, a position we hold even today”.

Commencing with the signature American Express Green Card, Gunatilake says Nations Trust Bank gradually introduced the different tiered American Express cards such as the Platinum American Express Card, the Co-Branded Sri Lankan Airlines Platinum American Express Card, and American Express Corporate cards to grow its premium value propositions. The strategy helped NTB acquire card members and merchant partners more efficiently, beating the competition in the market. Today, NTB has the exclusive rights to issue premium cards and acquire merchants for American Express and drives similar successful partnerships through Diners Club International, and MasterCard. In this interview, Gunatilake discusses how NTB sets itself apart in the credit card market.

How is the bank driving value to customers with its American Express offerings?

Nations Trust Bank American Express is predominantly a travel and leisure centric card. Based on that, we have segregated our customer base into three segments to drive specific value to each part – card members, merchants, and corporate clients.

To drive value throughout a credit card lifecycle, we have combined the global capabilities of American Express with the local expertise of NTB. For instance, we offer our credit card members travel insurance and exclusive access to airport lounges and concierge services worldwide. In case of emergencies, our customers can rest assured that they can reach out to us or any one of our extensive global contact centres.

For merchants, by directing our premium card membership to their locations, we ensure they get encouraging sales in both volume and value. NTB deploys advanced consumer analytics to match merchants with the most relevant card members for optimal customer experiences and sales.

For corporate clients, we have credit card products specially designed to bring cost-efficiencies to the corporate in addition to superior value. We also have mechanisms in place to give corporate clients better visibility for effective monitoring. So, through these various interventions, we drive value to all our customers.

I should mention here some of our customer-centric initiatives during the unfolding Covid-19 pandemic. NTB was on to digital conversion long before the pandemic struck, so we were somewhat ready with our systems, enabling our customers to enjoy uninterrupted service. In addition, we kept our 24/7 contact centres active during the lockdowns ensuring everything operated smoothly without any interruption to our services.

In order to facilitate the unique consumer needs that emerged post-pandemic, our teams were mobilised to offer new services focused on supporting our card members to navigate these challenging times. During the highly stressful and uncertain early part of the Covid outbreak, when everyone was closing their borders, we reached out to our card members stranded in transit, overseas and helped them get back home safely, assisted card members to convert their unplanned quarantine centre bills into affordable monthly instalment plans and we were able to use our large merchant network inclusive of leading supermarket chains and delivery partners, to help our card members access food and essential goods with door-step delivery.

What gives the bank the edge over the other credit card solutions in the market? What makes Nations Trust Bank the go-to credit card option?

Our partnerships with global brands like American Express, MasterCard and Diners Club help us stay on top of evolving global trends and innovations and adapt them to the local market appropriately. Our ability to combine the expertise of these international credit card brands with our deep understanding of Sri Lankan consumers and exceptional service standards have given us an edge in the market.

We relentlessly challenge ourselves to maintain market leadership by constantly raising the bar on product innovation and service delivery. Let me give some examples. NTB invested in cutting edge data analytics capabilities to understand intricate customer needs to target product benefits and features for optimal experiences. We are also rolling out contactless cards. We believe this will give our customers a faster checkout time while keeping them safe in a pandemic climate by reducing human contact. In terms of security, NTB invested heavily in real-time transaction monitoring to prevent fraudulent transactions and a prediction system based on customer behaviour to serve customers better.

To drive value throughout a credit card lifecycle, we have combined the global capabilities of American Express with the local expertise of Nations Trust Bank

The festive season is upon us, so can you tell us what NTB has planned for its American Express cardmembers?

The year-end is the biggest season for credit-card usage, and the 2021 year-end is extra special as this is the first proper festive season post a long lockdown period. Nations Trust Bank has launched its campaigns with over 300 exciting promotions covering retail, clothing, fuel, entertainment, hotels, leisure, grocery, jewellery, electronics, e-commerce, and many more. In addition, we will also run some dedicated promotions to specific customer segments using our analytics. The season is for rewarding our Cardmembers and we hope they make use of the plethora of benefits and privileges we have on offer and have a wonderful festive season.