POSB brings back iconic National School Savings Campaign

Singapore, 23 Jan 2015 - Having served generations of Singaporeans since 1877, POSB, the People’s Bank, today announced that it is bringing back the iconic POSB National School Savings Campaign – fondly known by many as the “POSB Saving Stamps Programme” – an initiative to encourage primary school students to cultivate the habit of saving. The savings campaign, reintroduced in conjunction with SG50, was instrumental in laying the foundation for the success of our nation and was unveiled today at a launch event by the Minister for Education, Mr. Heng Swee Keat.

While the campaign retains some of its original elements, the bank has also taken an innovative approach to engaging the digitally savvy generation of today by introducing “Smiley Town”, a mobile gaming app which provides students with money saving tips and helps students track their savings.

Many will remember the original National School Savings Campaign, first introduced in 1969 through the “Postal Savings Bank” – now known as POSB. The deposits generated by the campaign provided a valuable source of funds for the economic growth of Singapore, while cultivating values of savings and thrift among the youth. The campaign proved to be hugely popular across its run in the 1970s and 1980s, at its peak achieving 100% participation from schools.

A recent POSB online poll conducted with 5,000 respondents indicated that 90% believe that having a National School Savings Campaign would be effective in cultivating a healthy savings habit amongst children. 89% also expressed their concerns that savings as a value among children have eroded in today’s affluent society.

Said Jeremy Soo, Head of DBS Singapore Consumer Banking Group, “Many Singaporean adults – myself included – grew up with the National School Savings Campaign. I have very fond memories of collecting the stamps and watching my savings grow. Based on our survey, we note parents’ rising concerns about the erosion of savings as a value among the young. We feel it is important for students to participate in the physical act of saving money, and in keeping with the times, we also want to engage them digitally in a fun and interesting way.”

In addition to “Smiley Town”, the bank is also increasing its outreach to the young via digital channels which they frequently visit or socialise on.

Said Sim S. Lim, DBS Singapore Country Head, “Having served generations of Singaporeans from all walks of life, we have helped to shape values, such as thrift and savings, which have contributed to the success of our nation. As we move into the future, we will continue to innovate in the ways we engage and serve our customers. This is a significant year for Singapore and we are delighted to bring back the much loved POSB National School Savings Campaign.”

To participate in the campaign, students can collect stamp cards from participating school bookstores, POSB/DBS branches, or any SingPost outlet from February 2 onwards. They can purchase stamps (at SGD 0.50 each) from participating school bookstores or SingPost outlets. Once the cards are filled with 20 stamps, they can be deposited into any POSB/DBS Quick Cheque Deposit location, and SGD 10 will be subsequently credited into the student’s POSBkids account. To provide greater incentive for students to save, POSB will offer a bonus SGD 1 for every SGD 10 saved by each student per month via this campaign.

Said Karen Ngui, Head of DBS Group Strategic Marketing & Communications, “Both DBS and POSB are deeply woven into the fabric of the Singapore. Having played an integral role in Singapore’s development, we have lined up a broad range of initiatives to ignite possibilities and spark joy with our customers, employees and members of the community.”

Initiatives by DBS/POSB to celebrate SG50 include the first pop-up ATMs in Singapore to make it more convenient for customers to obtain new notes during the Lunar New Year as well as the limited edition POSB Smiley Jubilee Gift Bag for all babies born this year.

The bank earlier announced the establishment of a SGD 50 million DBS Foundation to give back to the community as well as a donation of SGD 25 million to the National Gallery Singapore. DBS will also be celebrating Singapore’s 50^th birthday with a SGD 3.5 million sponsorship of the 28^th Southeast Asian Games and its dragon boat and sailing races. Singaporeans have also been invited to share how they are transforming their neighbourhoods and social circles on the POSB NeighboursFirst.sg portal.

For more information on the POSB National School Savings Campaign, please visit: http://www.posb.com.sg/savewithsmiley.

(For high-resolution pictures, go here: http://go.dbs.com/1zC9ZzB)

[End]

Quotes from key partners

SingPost
Woo Keng Leong, Senior Executive Vice President/Head of Postal Services, said: “The National School Savings Campaign was a very effective and popular way to encourage children to save in those days. It was interactive and fun as there were the stamps to look forward too as well. We are glad that POSB is reviving this National School Savings Campaign initiative. It did not only help cultivate good savings habits among the children but also broadened their horizons through stamps to history and culture of Singapore and the world.”

Branch manager Tan Kim Hong who joined SingPost in 1971 as a counter staff reminisced: “In the 70s, we would often see children in the post offices queuing up excitedly to present their stamp cards filled with stamps to open a saving account or credit savings into their account. Some would also come to the post office to buy stamps to paste onto the stamp cards. It was heartening to see children developing good saving habits.”

EZ-Link Pte Ltd
Nicholas Lee, CEO of EZ-Link Pte Ltd, said, “EZ-Link is excited to introduce a new cashless way for students to save as part of the National School Savings Campaign. Besides inculcating saving habits in our next generation, we are also taking the opportunity to educate them on the convenience of cashless payments, starting at a young age.” 

Pacific Bookstores
Teoh Hai Thow, Executive Director of Pacific Bookstores, said, “As one of the pioneering bookshop operators established in 1976, Pacific Bookstores is excited to partner POSB and SingPost for the launch of the National School Savings Campaign. We strongly believe that it will be beneficial to students in the primary schools and will cultivate good saving habits, which has deteriorated over the years.”

Merchandising Executive Karen Yap, who participated in the National School Savings Campaign when it was first launched recalls fondly: “I remember the excitement my friends and I had in a bid to complete the stamp cards. We would race to the bookshop, where the stamps were sold. Now that I work in Pacific Bookstores, it definitely has brought about a nostalgic feeling and I hope it will cultivate the habit in the younger generation to save.”

About POSB
A part of the DBS Group, POSB is the largest local bank in Singapore with 4 million customers. Having served generations of Singaporeans for the past 138 years, it is known as the "People's Bank", and prides itself on being "neighbours first, bankers second".

With a good understanding of Singaporeans through the years, POSB offers products and services that are relevant to the savings, borrowing, investment and insurance needs of all Singaporeans. With over 50 branches conveniently located islandwide, and over 1,000 ATMs and Cash Acceptance Machines across the island, POSB's distribution network is the largest in Singapore.

POSB acknowledges the passion, commitment and can-do spirit in each of its staff. For more information, please visit www.posb.com.sg