HLB unveils Kitty galore

Following its launch of the first Hello Kitty Debit Card in Malaysia, Hong Leong Bank (HLB) has taken the icon to the next level with a limited winter edition of the debit card.The card features a one-of-a-kind vertical design, available from December 2012 to new customers aged from 18 years.The Hello Kitty Debit Card is targeted at women and families with young children, with the release of contest promotions and roadshows to support the launch.While customers will be entitled to merchandise with every new account opened, the roadshow series kicked off at Publika Shopping Gallery.During the next roadshows set at Paradigm Mall and City Square Johor Bahru, Hello Kitty herself will make an appearance for meet and greet sessions.The new promotion is also leveraging on print ads seen in local newspapers.The increase in the bank's focus on debit cards comes on the back of its growth potential in Malaysia.Susan Wong, general manager of retail deposits and debit cards for HLB, shared that in the past four years, Malaysia recorded the highest growth in debit card spending in the region, with a 50% increase year-on-year.She explains that Bank Negara Malaysia revealed Malaysians to have spent RM5.5 billion in 22.9 million debit card transactions in only the first eight months of 2012, compared to RM6.3 billion spent via 25.3 million transactions for the whole of 2011."This shows that it is an excellent time to offer debit card products to consumers, and help them discover a cashless world designed with them in mind," Wong said.