MANAMA, BAHRAIN – 15 April 2020 – Fadheela Isa Hasan, a retired Bahraini woman, won Ithmaar Bank’s USD200,000 Thimaar Quarterly Prize to became the first winner ever to have been selected through a remote draw.
The first-of-its-kind draw was physically held at the Bank’s headquarters in Seef but remotely coordinated and supervised by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism (MOICT) as well as external auditors BDO Bahrain and the Bank’s own internal auditors as part of national efforts to help contain the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
“Hearing that you won USD200,000 in cash is always great news,” said Hasan. “In these difficult, challenging times, as we all try to cope with the Covid-19 outbreak, this is very welcome news indeed,” she said. “I did not expect to hear such great news – it has made my family and I very happy,” said Hasan. “When the Bank informed me about the prize, I honestly did not believe them especially that I have never won anything before,” she said.
“Ithmaar Bank is committed to following Central Bank of Bahrain and Ministry of Health directives, and to doing its part to help contain the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak,” Ithmaar Bank General Manager, Retail Banking Group, Mohammed Janahi. “Working with the MOICT to allow for the remote supervision of the quarterly Thimaar draw is an example of how seriously we take this commitment,” he said.
Thimaar, Arabic for Arabic for fruits or harvest, is prize-based saving account that Ithmaar Bank introduced to help encourage its customers to save. To mark the account’s ten-year anniversary, the Bank announced it is offering more prizes and more chances to win, with over US$ 4 million up for grabs to more than 3,000 winners this year. With this announcement, Ithmaar Bank, will have distributed more than US$ 26 million in prizes to almost 29,000 customers, in the ten years since it launched Thimaar, making it one of the most rewarding saving schemes in Bahrain.
This year’s Thimaar prizes include 100 monthly prizes, three quarterly prizes worth US$ 200,000 each, and a grand prize worth US$ 1 million. In appreciation of the Bank’s loyal customers, the Thimaar loyalty draws offer 90 monthly prizes to customers who have not won a prize in the past year. There are also 60 Junior prizes for the Bank’s younger customers. Additionally, this year, Thimaar will distribute prizes to two monthly Elite customers for depositing amounts of BD 50,000 and above.
“On behalf of all of us at Ithmaar Bank, I congratulate Fadheela on winning the first Thimaar Quarterly Prize of the year,” said Janahi. “These are difficult, challenging times for all of us with the COVID-19 outbreak dominating the local, regional and international news – and it is great to be able to announce good news and to join one of our customers in celebration,” he said.
Along with cash prizes, the Thimaar account offers a profit rate on the balance maintained. Customers are entered into the draws by maintaining a minimum balance of BD 30 in their Thimaar account. The more they save, and the longer they maintain balances in multiples of BD30, the more opportunities they have to win.