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  • ₦400 Million in Rewards Up for Grabs in PalmPay’s Festive Campaign with Global Travel Prizes

    ₦400 Million in Rewards Up for Grabs in PalmPay’s Festive Campaign with Global Travel Prizes

    PalmPay, Nigeria’s leading digital banking platform, has announced the launch of its ₦400 million festive rewards campaign, designed to reward users with cash prizes and fully sponsored international travel experiences for everyday transactions on the PalmPay app.

    The campaign will run from December 17, 2025, to January 8, 2026. The campaign is designed to reward everyday transactions with extraordinary experiences. It runs alongside PalmPay’s Purple December brand campaign, which focuses on wrapping up the company’s key brand and community initiatives for the year.

    At the centre of the rewards campaign is the PalmPay World Travel Carnival, an interactive card collection experience that allows users to earn city cards by completing transactions on the app. Users are required to collect five city cards – London, New York, Dubai, Sydney, and Cape Town and combine them into a World Card, which unlocks a share of the prize pool.

    The more World Cards a user creates, the larger their share of the cash rewards. Any extra uncombined cards can be swapped with friends and other PalmPay users to help complete additional World Cards.

    Beyond cash rewards, the Carnival also offers Free Global Trips. In each round, the top two users with the highest number of eligible transactions (₦100 and above) and at least one World Card will win an all-expense-paid international trip.


     The travel grand prize covers:

    1. Visa fees
    2. Round-trip international airfare
    3. 5-day, 4-night hotel accommodation
    4. Side attraction
    5. Meal expenses
    6. Airport pick-up and drop-off
    7. All transportation for scheduled tour activities during the trip

    Winners will be determined through a transparent leaderboard system, with prizes credited automatically at the end of each round on December 25, December 31, and January 8.

    Participation is simple:

    1. Complete tasks on the PalmPay app, such as Airtime, Data, Transfers, and other specific transactions listed in the app, to earn cards.
    2. Collect all five city cards.
    3. Swap cards with friends to complete your collection.
    4. Combine cards to form a World Card and earn cash rewards.
    5. Perform more transactions to climb the leaderboard for a chance at the global trip prize.

    To ensure fairness, PalmPay has instituted strict rules: no cheating, bots, fake accounts, or manipulation. Any violations may result in disqualification or account suspension. Additionally, the Free Travel Prize is limited to one per user throughout the campaign.

    Speaking on the launch, Femi Hanson, Head of Marketing & Communication, said, “This festive rewards campaign is about turning everyday banking into meaningful value for our users. With the World Travel Carnival as the headline activation, we are reinforcing PalmPay’s promise of being the smarter way to bank—where smart financial decisions unlock bigger opportunities.”

    For more information, download PalmPay

  • Emirates Skywards introduces flight rewards in Premium Economy

    Emirates Skywards introduces flight rewards in Premium Economy

    • The highly anticipated offering reflects Skywards’ commitment to always reward members with more travel choices and unmatched benefits.

    Emirates Skywards has officially unlocked flight rewards for Premium Economy travel – a move highly welcomed by its more than 35 million members worldwide. The award-winning loyalty programme of Emirates and flydubai is now offering members a chance to redeem Skywards Miles on Classic Rewards and Upgrade Rewards on all Emirates’ Premium Economy cabins. The highly anticipated offering underscores Skywards’ commitment to redefine the loyalty experience and always offer members more rewards, benefits, and greater travel options.

    Dr. Nejib Ben Khedher, Divisional Senior Vice President Emirates Skywards, said: “We’re thrilled to announce the introduction of flight rewards on Emirates’ highly coveted Premium Economy cabin. This has been in development for some time and comes following the huge success, positive feedback, and strong demand by members to utilise Miles on Premium Economy – especially on popular long-haul destinations such as London, Sydney, Melbourne, and New York. The offer will initially be available exclusively to our Skywards members, with plans to extend to other airline partners in the future. We are confident this enhancement will further enrich the travel experience, staying true to our brand promise of always flying customers better. We look forward to more of our members now having the opportunity to experience Emirates’ newest, luxurious cabin with a service that rivals many airlines’ Business Class.”

    Starting from 7,000 Skywards Miles

    Members can now redeem Skywards Miles to purchase a full flight ticket on Emirates Premium Economy cabin, starting from 15,000 Miles (one-way).

    Passengers can also request for an upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy starting from 7,020 Miles (one-way). Upgrade requests can be booked prior to a flight and will also be offered at the Emirates’ check-in counter, subject to availability.

    Click here to view the Miles Calculator.

    The loyalty programme has also recently rolled out Classic Rewards on all flydubai flights starting at 5,000 Miles, in addition to revised Cash+Miles rates. Skywards Miles redemptions continue to be a popular loyalty offering with close to 500,000 flight tickets purchased with Classic Rewards, Cash Miles, and Upgrade Rewards over the summer period (June to August 2025) to popular destinations such as London, Paris, New York and Bangkok.

    Fly better with Emirates’ Premium Economy

    Emirates is the only airline in the region to offer Premium Economy, with a signature experience unmatched in the industry. The airline’s newest cabin has been recognised by multiple global recognitions including ‘Best Premium Economy’ by AirlineRatings.com and Airline Excellence Awards 2024.

    Emirates Skywards members travelling in Premium Economy can look forward to dedicated check-in desks at the airport; luxurious cream-coloured leather seats with a generous pitch of up to 40 inches, calf rests, and footrests for additional comfort; generous meals and a premium wine selection; and the airline’s latest upgraded inflight entertainment system, ice, with a 13.3 inch screen – one of the largest in its class – to watch more than 6,500 channels of music, movies, TV, news and more.

    Click here to tour the Emirates Premium Economy cabin, which is currently available on flights to more than 66 cities worldwide.

    Emirates’ US$5 billion retrofit programme

    As part of its multi-billion dollar investment to fully refurbish 219 of its aircraft – Emirates has so far rolled out 67 fully refurbished aircraft (32 A380s and 35 Boeing 777s) with new cabin interiors including the Premium Economy cabin. The airline also welcomed 9 A350 aircraft featuring Premium Economy, with 56 more units to join its fleet.

    By March 2026, the airline will serve 68 cities with aircraft fitted with its Premium Economy product, offering close to 2 million Premium Economy seats in its network each year, and a doubling of that capacity to 4 million seats per year by the end of 2026. 

    • On the Emirates Airbus A380, 56 Premium Economy seats are located at the front of the main deck, and seats are laid out in a 2-4-2 configuration.
    • On the Emirates Boeing 777, up to 24 Premium Economy seats are laid out in a 2-4-2 configuration.
    • On the Emirates Airbus A350, up to 28 Premium Economy seats are located at the front of the aircraft, and seats are laid out in a 2-3-2 configuration.

    Customers can book tickets on emirates.com, or visit the Emirates App, Emirates Retail stores, Emirates contact centre, or via travel agents.

  • Emirates Premium Economy surges to record 160,000 customers trading up to experience the cabin’s quiet luxury

    Emirates Premium Economy surges to record 160,000 customers trading up to experience the cabin’s quiet luxury

    Customers’ preference for the recently introduced Emirates Premium Economy has surged to a record high, with over 160,000 trading up, thereby setting new industry benchmarks in Premium Economy travel.  Emirates is delightfully celebrating this banner first year of full-service operations with the highly popular cabin class, introduced in August 2022.  With strong demand momentum forecasted in the coming months, Emirates  is providing travellers more opportunities to experience its highly-acclaimed Premium Economy product which is currently available on flights to 11 cities, with the list growing to 13 cities by the end of the year, as more retrofitted aircraft with refreshed cabins roll into scheduled service.

    Since Emirates debuted its Premium Economy Class, customer response has been overwhelmingly positive with demand exceeding expectations and bookings growing month on month, demonstrating its appeal to a broad range of traveller segments who want to try out its understated luxury and meticulously elevated experience at great value. Nearly half of the customers flying in Emirates Premium Economy are solo travellers venturing off for holidays, while couples and families constitute the other half.  More than 60% of customers who booked to fly in Premium Economy in the last year were also loyal Emirates Skywards members and regular customers of the airline.

    Emirates currently flies its A380s with the latest Premium Economy cabins to London Heathrow, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Christchurch, Singapore, Los Angeles, New York JFK, Houston, San Francisco and Dubai, with flights regularly registering full seat loads in Premium Economy. The airline plans to make Premium Economy available to customers flying to/from Mumbai and Bengaluru from 29 October, and additional cities will be announced soon. Emirates currently operates 20 aircraft fitted with Premium Economy, 14 of which were retrofitted in-house by the Emirates Engineering team in Dubai over the course of the last nine months.

    Since August 2022, the airline has operated close to 4,500 flights with Premium Economy, traversing more than 36 million kilometres around the globe. On those flights, over 192,000 meals from its carefully curated menus which include the finest ingredients were served to customers who enjoyed regionally inspired, generously portioned dishes. Unique touches include indulgent desserts garnished with edible gold leaf, among other signature offerings. Premium Economy menus are updated every month to ensure a diversity of flavours and dishes, especially for well-travelled customers. Over 126,000 pieces of chocolates were served to round off meals for Premium Economy customers. Emirates also served 6,700 kilograms of mixed nuts and 8,650 litres of complimentary fresh lemon and mint juices in Premium Economy. The airline’s robust beverage selection in Premium Economy includes a global exclusive for Emirates customers, Australian sparkling wine, Chandon Vintage Brut 2016, alongside a choice of a unique white and red wine.

    The airline’s philosophy to constantly innovate and redefine service excellence through the introduction of Premium Economy has earned it numerous top placings and accolades in the cabin category at the 2023 Skytrax Awards, Business Traveller awards, Airline Ratings Excellence Awards, and 2022 Business Traveller Middle East awards.

    In May, Emirates launched a global campaign with Academy Award winning actor and philanthropist, Penelope Cruz, which also featured her enjoying the spacious seats in Premium Economy. The airline has also provided a glimpse of its Premium Economy offering through guided tours of the new cabin class to media and influencers, trade partners, airport, tourism and government officials across cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Christchurch, Singapore, New York JFK and San Francisco.

    The Premium Economy roll-out is a core component of the airline’s multi-billion-dollar retrofit programme which will see the interior upgrade on 67 Emirates A380 cabins, as well as 53 Boeing 777 cabins. By the end of the programme, over 4,000 Premium Economy seats will be installed, along with over 700 First Class suites and 5,000 Business Class seats refurbished with the latest interiors.

    Tickets in Premium Economy can be booked on emirates.com, the Emirates App, or via both online and offline travel agents.

  • Emirates urges travelers to book summer tickets now

    Emirates urges travelers to book summer tickets now

    Emirates has urged intending summer holiday customers who are yet to make their travel arrangements to book at once in order to ensure that they are able to travel on their preferred dates and flights. This comes as the summer holidays draw closer, daily booking volumes are accelerating and as travel rebounds from the impact of the pandemic.

     Emirates is busy preparing for its busiest period with over 550,000 customers expected to fly out from the UAE between June and July on over 2,400 weekly network-wide departures.  The Airline has continued to add flights and frequencies where possible as it ramps up its summer schedule, and will be operating close to 80% of its pre-pandemic capacity, or over 1 million weekly seats for this summer to serve demand.

    From 1 August, customers travelling from Dubai to London, Paris and Sydney will be able to experience the airline’s full Premium Economy experience, complete with dedicated check-in areas at DXB, luxurious seats offering unrivalled comfort with a pitch of up to 40 inches, soft, sustainable blankets and amenity kits, elevated onboard gastronomy and a premium selection of beverages, amongst other attentive touches.

    Customers returning from their holidays abroad can continue their summer experiences on the ground in Dubai with My Emirates Pass. Customers travelling between 1 May to 30 September 2022 can enjoy exclusive offers at over 500 locations, including restaurants, big-name retail outlets, spas and exclusive attractions across the city by simply showing their Emirates boarding pass.

    Emirates is working hard to ensure it provides an incredible onboard experience, and a seamless journey on the ground. As many customers have been waiting for almost two years to travel on the ground, customers can look forward to a speedy process when they utilise the airline’s biometric path in Terminal 3 for a contactless journey from select check-in desks, Emirates lounges and boarding gates. The airline has also introduced other technology-centric services including self-check-in and bag drop kiosks at DXB for a smoother and contactless airport experience. Emirates customers also now have the option to cut down their wait time with 25 mobile check-in ports, where they can get their boarding cards, weigh and tag their bags, and have any of their questions answered by check-in staff.

    From Abu Dhabi, Emirates customers can board the airline’s bus service which now operates five times a day. First Class customers can take advantage of Emirates’ new Home Check-in Service that offers them the option to check-in from home, free of charge.  Emirates’ First Class customers based in Dubai and Sharjah, can have Check-in Agents visit their homes or hotels at pre-booked timings to complete all check-in formalities, including document verification, checking-in of baggage, and issuing boarding passes.There is an allocated counter at the airport for any last-minute extra luggage.

    Onboard, customers can look forward to regionally inspired dishes, special menus and an unrivalled beverage offering across all classes, as well as a host of other amenities. Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system, ice, now offers more than 5,000 channels, with content in 40 languages to cater to every taste and preference, including 4,000 hours of the latest movies and TV, and close to 3,500 hours of music and podcasts to choose from. The airline will be flying to 35 A380 destinations this summer, and customers can look forward to the airline’s signature experience on its flagship double-decker, including its tremendously popular Onboard lounge and Shower Spa, amongst other award-winning experiences to be found across every cabin class.

  • Guinness Nigeria Announces World Class Bartender Competition

    Guinness Nigeria Announces World Class Bartender Competition

    Recently, Guinness Nigeria announced the commencement of its foremost bartender competition, World Class. This official flag off for the World Class journey which began in Lagos, will stop in key cities across Nigeria before ending with a bang down in Sydney, Australia.

    World Class is the world’s largest and most exclusive bartending competition, mixology education programme; curated to celebrate bartending creativity and innovative cocktail-making trends while inspiring people to drink better and create unforgettable experiences in the process. World Class has supported, trained, and inspired over 400,000 bartenders, across 60 countries, for over twelve years, while partnering them with the world’s finest spirits – the Diageo Reserve collection.

    World Class 2022 will witness the unveiling of the ‘Big 30’ – top 30 mixologists/bartenders across Nigeria put through masterclasses on the perfect serve for participating Diageo premium spirits; Johnnie Walker and Ketel One.

    Diageo through Guinness Nigeria is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion which will be brought to life in this year’s competition. Thus, an intentional approach towards ensuring active participation from women has been adopted with hopes that it will encourage interest in the years to come and recruit more women into the bartending community leveraging the Diageo Bar Academy program.

     The 30-strong list will be shortlisted at Regional Finals in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, where four bartenders will be selected. The final 4 will dazzle a select crowd at a 3-day Cocktail Week showing off their winning recipes. The eventual winner will represent Nigeria at the Global Finals in Sydney, Australia later this year.

    Sammy Okwandu, Head of Customer Marketing International Premium Spirits, Reserve Brands and Modern Trade opined; ‘World Class is a global platform that seeks to take consumers on a journey where fine drinking is seen the same way as fine dining. The bartender competition is also our way of giving back some of the value we derive from a sector of the value chain that is often overlooked; our on-trade partners. Ultimately, we look forward to an amazing 6 months with some of the best mixologists in the land and may the best bartender win’

    The World Class 2022 journey is just beginning and you do not want to miss this exciting trip. Keep up with the shakes and stirs by following @worldclassng and #WORLDCLASSBIG3O.

  • Stanbic IBTC wins Big at the 2022 Cosmopolitan The Daily Business Awards

    Stanbic IBTC wins Big at the 2022 Cosmopolitan The Daily Business Awards

    Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC, a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, has been awarded the Best Cash Management Bank and the Best Trade Finance and Supply Finance Provider in Nigeria at the 2022 edition of the Cosmopolitan The Daily Business Awards, which held recently.

    Organised by Cosmopolitan The Daily Business publication, the business award recognises financial organisations globally with exceptional strategy, achievements, dedication, and innovation.

    Expressing his delight at the awards, Jesuseun Fatoyinbo, Head, Transactional Products and Services (TPS), Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC, said that the recognition is an attestation to the bank’s dedication to quality service and customer satisfaction.

    He said: “Stanbic IBTC Bank has earned its place as one of Nigeria’s leading financial institutions. One of our strategic goals is to help Nigerian organisations grow and scale their businesses while also facilitating the development of an enabling business environment and thriving ecosystem. We also deploy innovative solutions to give our clients and customers the best experience.”

    “Emerging as the Best Cash Management Bank and Best Trade Finance and Supply Finance Provider in Nigeria is impressive as this demonstrates the commitment and dedication of our people. This is a testament to the high operating standard at Stanbic IBTC and proof of the confidence that our clients have in our service delivery” he added.

    Jesuseun also highlighted innovative solutions that businesses can take advantage of, which include the newly launched Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), Business Online (BOL) which is a fully-digitised platform that facilitates cash management, investor services and trade needs, Africa-China Trade Solution (ACTS), and trade finance solutions. The Cosmopolitan the Daily Business Award is hosted by Cosmopolitan Daily publications and magazines, with branches in New York, Toronto, London, Dubai, Bangalore, Kuala Lumpur, and Sydney, is a business publication providing coverage of finance, technology, energy, real estate, on key market trends from around the globe.