By Ngozi Onyeakusi– Nwogu Ijeoma, a trader in Alaba international market and one thousand and fifteen customers across Nigeria emerged winners at the second quarterly draw of the DiamondXtra season 11 reward scheme powered by Access Bank Plc.
Speaking shortly after receiving the N1 million prize cheque, Ijeoma while expressing excitement at winning, told newsmen that she had been a customer of Access Bank for years, adding that Nigerians should partake in the initiative as it was real.
She said, “I have been banking with Access Bank for a long time now. The first time I got a call from the Bank, I did not even listen I hung up the phone but when they called again, I decided to give them a listening ear only to discover I have won a million naira. I am excited and I would encourage my friends and family members to bank with Access Bank so that they can partake in this initiative”.
Also speaking at the prize presentation ceremony, Head, Retail Product insight and capabilities, Access Bank Plc, Rob Giles, noted that the bank has stuck to its promise of keeping the initiative growing and ongoing.
Giles revealed that over N5.4 billion in prize money have been doled out while adding that Access Bank is trying to make the prizes more accessible so that more Nigerians win every year.
He said, “The special thing about DiamondXtra season 11 is the difference we are making for people by giving rent allowance for a year and we had winners today who won in that category as well as education grant for 5 years, that is something that is really impressive in this season. we are also helping our youths get education which help makes more businesses grow.
This product has been a successful product since the launch in 2008 and you do not have to have a large amount to save. for every N5,000 you save, you get one entry into the prize draw and that entry could win you any category of our prizes”.
Corroborating him, Head, Retail Market and Analytics, Access Bank, Chioma Afe, explained that the motivation behind the DiamondXtra initiative was born out of the need to transform the lives of its customers.
“We have 31 million customers across all our various products and for DiamondXtra, we have about 2.7 million customers and we want to ensure every single one of these customers have been impacted positively by this initiative in some way. We have also launchedDiamondxtra on USSD *901# to make it easier for new customers to open accounts and for the existing customers to increase their deposits to grab more winning opportunities.
The beauty about DiamondXtra is that today we see these winners but the draws that happen in the markets, we reward our customers with N10,000 – N50,000 because we realise that not anybody can be a millionaire but every kobo counts and I think after banking with us for such a long time, it would not be bad if we reward our customers. The motivation is that for every time we do this, we find that these monies are used to transform their lives. So we want to keep doing that”. She said.

DiamondXtra is an interest yielding hybrid account which allows deposit of both cash and third party cheques. Hybrid means a combination of both savings and current account features. The reward scheme has given away over N5 billion in cash and household items to over 15,000 loyal customers over the last 10 years.
To open a DiamondXtra account simply dial *901# from your mobile phone and follow the prompts and fund the account with a minimum of N5,000.