Loyalty card for phone calls and remittances

My WU du card is designed for low-income expatriate workers

Anew loyalty card, targeted mainly at low-income expatriate workers, has been jointly launched by global money transfer firm Western Union (WU) and UAE telecom operator du, offering discounted transfer fees and free minutes.

The agreement for the ‘My WU du’ card was signed yesterday in Dubai by Othman Sultan, CEO, du, and JeanClaude Farah, executive vicepresident and president, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe and CIS, WU.

Under the scheme, residents can buy du’s prepaid Alo SIM card, which costs Dh5 and is popular with labourers, and get a My WU du card along with it. Existing Alo users can also receive their My WU du card by registering for it.

Preloaded cards

The card comes preloaded with a welcome bonus of 10 points. After activating it for free by calling 800 4851, customers can start using it when sending money home, earning points in the process.

For each use of the card, customers earn double the reward points, which can be redeemed for a discount on the transfer fee in the next transaction. Also, each time Each time du card is recharged for Dh20, a customer gets up to 10 free international minutes Earning 40 points entitles customers to a discount of Dh5 in money transfer fee customers recharge or top up the card with Dh20 or more, they get up to 10 free international minutes.

There are different schemes according to the preferred international destination selected by the customer. For example, for those sending money to India, where the majority of workers come from, they will earn on the Dh15 applicable transfer fee 30 reward points — double the normal reward rate.

The 30 earned points plus the preloaded 10 points will mean their total of 40 points will entitle them to a discount of Dh5 (one point for every eight dirhams) on the Dh15 transfer fee to India.

“The labourers’ community is very dear to our hearts. Alo is the first product in the region catering to their needs, and offers specific benefits to them,” Sultan said.

Jean-Claude Farah added that “where can I get a mobile phone line?” and “how can I send money home?” are the first questions asked by new arrivals. They both said the new loyalty card will bring benefits to users under what they described as a first scheme of its kind in the UAE.