GEMS Education and Emirates NBD Give Parents New Options to Pay Fees

Press release

Published March 4th, 2018 - 09:02 GMT

Dino Varkey, Chief Executive Officer, GEMS Education

GEMS Education and Emirates NBD have announced an exclusive offering that will make it easier for parents to pay their school tuition fees. By becoming a redemption partner with Emirates NBD, GEMS Education has given parents the option of converting their Plus Points (Emirates NBD’s card loyalty programme), into cash for their school fees.

Introduced as a part of the GEMS Rewards Programme, parents can log onto Emirates NBD’s online or mobile banking platform, select ‘GEMS Education’ under the ‘Learning Institutes’ tab and redeem their points in multiples of 100, 300 or 500. They will then receive a voucher, which will be accepted as payment towards their child’s tuition fees at their GEMS Education school in the UAE.

Dino Varkey, Chief Executive Officer, GEMS Education said, “This partnership with Emirates NBD allows us to give our parents another way to pay fees – it gives them another currency. When we launched the GEMS Rewards programme, we wanted to explore multiple ways to help our families with the payment of their school fees, and this partnership provides that opportunity.”

Suvo Sarkar, Senior EVP – Head of Retail Banking & Wealth Management, Emirates NBD said, “Education is a key expenditure category for parents and as the market leader in payments/the cards category, we continue to define new and convenient ways for customers to utilise their rewards. I am certain our partnership with the region’s largest educational group will immensely benefit our customers, reinforcing our ongoing commitment to add value to our customers’ lives.”

This unique offering is available to all GEMS families who are Emirates NBD customers. Emirates NBD Plus Points vouchers can be redeemed at all GEMS Education schools in the UAE.

The GEMS Rewards programme is GEMS Education’s way of giving back to parents and thanking them for their loyalty to the GEMS community of schools. The GEMS Rewards app, launched in October 2017, was the first product shared with parents under this programme. The partnership with Emirates NBD is the newest initiative through GEMS Rewards and GEMS Education plans to launch more such initiatives in the coming months.

Background Information

GEMS Education

In 1959, two teachers, KS Varkey and his wife Mariamma, arrived in Dubai.

At the time, Dubai was a burgeoning trade centre on the Arabian Gulf. The Varkey family had left Kerala, India to seek a better life for their family. What they found was a real need to educate children arriving in the city from around the world.

Their son, Sunny, added a visionary’s ambition to a practitioner's experience. From simple roots in a family of teachers, GEMS Education, is today an international company with schools and education services across the Middle East. We still share the same mission - to provide a quality education to everyone.

Company Profile

Emirates NBD

Emirates NBD, the leading banking group in the region, was formed on 19 June 1963, when H.H. Late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum signed the Charter of Incorporation of the National Bank of Dubai (NBD) which became the first National Bank established in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). With the blessings of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, NBD merged with Emirates Bank International (EBI) on 06 March 2007, to form Emirates NBD, the largest banking group in the region by assets. On 16 October 2007, the shares of Emirates NBD were officially listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). The merger between EBI and NBD to create Emirates NBD, became a regional consolidation blueprint for the banking and finance sector as it combined the second and fourth largest banks in the UAE to form a banking champion capable of delivering enhanced value across corporate, retail, private, Islamic and investment banking throughout the region.