I assure you, it’s not a banking product, but it ought to be. Experience by definition is “Practical contact with and observation of facts or events”. Experience can be going camping by the lake. It could be biking in Hell’s gate national park. It could be having a rooftop party. It could be having tea by the sea-side. It could even be reading this article. Experience can be many things.
The Kenyan middle class enjoys being sold for experiences. Many people enjoy sharing these on social networking sites. It’s the “be seen” phenomenon that China is similarly experiencing. Those who drive big Toyota Land Cruisers and have a house smaller than the car can relate.
They’re not that pricey—on paper that is. But when you factor in matters such as “the right attire for it” (ladies relate very well with this), the cost of the venue, the cost of getting to the venue, the cost of food (you simply can’t purchase the cheapest thing, you’ll want to “treat yourself”) and other miscellaneous costs, your bill inflates, and your wallet deflates.
Banks in my opinion, need to have explicitly stated “experience accounts”. These could be bank accounts in which the individual deposits certain amounts of money whenever they fancy, in order to prepare themselves for an upcoming event. These accounts could have many perks, such as work with the major event sponsors and have benefits. I believe there was a “diva” account that saw ladies get something similar in the services industry. Wouldn’t it be great if with such an account, one could use their visa card to a 20% discount on say, a Concours D’elegance ticket?
This past weekend saw the Safaricom safari 7s rugby tournament and earth-dance take place. The advance tickets for earth dance was Ksh2500 and that doesn’t even include a meal. However 24 hours of continuous partying will see other costs such as food and drink (and those don’t come cheap at such places) and various items such as earth dance shirts that cost over ksh1000, those glow in the dark bands (ksh250 onwards)…before you know it, one would have spent over ksh4000 at such a event, simply because they want to enjoy the experience of being there.
With money becoming scarce there’s a simple solution to enjoying yourself: open a bank account specifically for these experiences you so desire to be a part of. One doesn’t have to go for every single one of these events that are marketed on sites such as Facebook. Save up a little. Or a lot if you want a really pleasant one, such as drinks on a beach at low tide in Diani. When you’ve the right amount set aside for these events, you enjoy them more.
I know Cooperative bank of Kenya have accounts with little or no charges. There are mobile money transfer services to such accounts. Send as little as Ksh200 a week and in six months time you’ll have saved enough for one of these many experiences on offer, probably with some change to spare.
It’s an idea that works, I have a friend to credit for coming up with such an idea. It works very well for him, why not for you as well?
You know what the masses say, “If you can’t beat them, join them”.