Credit Libanais- Visa Promotion Winner

 ِDeveloping cards usage is one of Credit Libanais’ top priorities. Thus, with a view to play an active role in this scope, Credit Libanais was once again part of a new campaign launched by Visa International from January 5^th till March 5^th 2012 aiming to increase the card usage. 

Every time the cardholder used the Credit Libanais Visa cards during the promotion period at any point of sale across Lebanon or worldwide, he got the chance to enter a draw and win a trip to win a trip to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. 

Such a move has motivated Visa cardholders to settle their purchases with their cards, and as a result, Mr. Michel Gedeon won a trip for 2 persons to spend 4 magic days in London in order to attend this biggest sporting event. 

The lucky Credit Libanais winner received her prize during special celebrations held at Credit Libanais bank, in the presence of the General Management.

This initiative has motivated Credit Libanais cardholders to increase the use of their cards and enhance their chances of enjoying rewards through the Credit Libanais Loyalty scheme, the instant prizes campaign and many ongoing Visa International promotions.

Join Visa Olympics 2012 Games and Win!

Something amazing is about to happen this summer, and Visa is making you a part of it. This month, we’re launching the first Olympic-themed online game in the Middle East:

The Visa Race to London.

It’s a simple competition that anyone can join. Users create teams with their friends and compete in a series of online challenges over 4 weeks.

•  The best performing team will win a full expense paid trip to the London 2012 Olympic Games
• Participating teams will also get the chance to win tons of amazing prizes, including smart phones, tablets, Visa prepaid cards and flight tickets to London.
•  Individual players can also take on the challenges alone and win weekly prizes

To register for the games, visit www.racetolondon.visamiddleeast.com 

Lebanon ranks 108th in the World and 2nd in the Region in Press Freedom

Freedom House’s latest report titled “Freedom of The Press 2012: Breakthroughs and Pushback in the Middle East” positioned Lebanon among countries having a partly free press, assigning it a score of 51 for the year 2011, hence occupying the 108^th position in terms of press freedom in the world and 2^nd place among 19 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. On a yearly basis, Lebanon preserved the same regional and global ranks it occupied in 2010 at a time when it scored 53 in press freedom.

 Find out more in the attached Credit Libanais Market Watch, issue No.319 for the week ended May 8, 2012. You may also directly access Credit Libanais' weekly report and other economic publications on our website.

صنّف تقرير "فريدوم هاوس" المعنون "حريّة الصحافة للعام 2012: إنفراج وإنتكاسة في الشرق الأوسط" لبنان ضمن لائحة الدول التي تتمتّع بصحافة "شبه حرّة". وقد سجّل لبنان نتيجة 51 في العام 2011، ليحتلّ بذلك المرتبة 108 على صعيدٍ عالميٍّ والمرتبة الثانية بين 19 دولة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا لجهة حريّة الصحافة. أمّا على صعيدٍ سنويٍّ، فقد حافظ لبنان على موقعه إقليميّاً وعالميّاً مقارنةً مع نتائج العام 2010.

 للمزيد من المعلومات، تجدون ربطا التقرير الإقتصادي الأسبوعي المنظّم من قبل دائرة الأبحاث الإقتصاديّة في بنك الإعتماد اللبناني لفترة الأسبوع المنتهي بتاريخ 4 أيّار 2012. كما يمكنكم الإستحصال على التقارير الإقتصاديّة الأخرى المنظّمة من دائرة الأبحاث الإقتصاديّة على على موقعنا الإلكتروني 

IMF Releases April 2012 World Economic Outlook Report

The IMF April 2012 World Economic Outlook report highlighted that the Lebanese economy has grown at a 1.5% rate during the year 2011. The IMF has downwardly revised Lebanon’s economic growth rate for the year 2012 to 3.0% down from 3.5% in its September 2011 World Economic Outlook Update report. Lebanon’s consensus growth remains in line with several regional and international economies.

Find out more in the attached Credit Libanais Market Watch, issue No.317 for the week ended April 23, 2012. You may also directly access Credit Libanais' weekly report and other economic publications on our website.

أشار صندوق النقد الدولي في تقريره حول النظرة المستقبليّة للإقتصاد العالمي والمؤرّخ في نيسان 2012 إلى أنّ الإقتصاد اللبناني قد حقّق نسبة نموّ وصلت إلى 1.5% خلال العام 2010، مع توقّعاتٍ أن تنخفض نسبة النموّ في العام 2012 إلى 3.0%  مقارنةً مع توقّعات نموّ بنسبة 3.5% سابقاً في تقرير النظرة المستقبليّة للإقتصاد العالمي المؤرّخ في أيلول 2011. وتبقى نسب النموّ المرتقبة للإقتصاد اللبناني متماشيةً مع المعدّلات المتوقّعة لعددٍ كبيرٍ من الإقتصادات الإقليميّة والعالميّة. 

للمزيد من المعلومات، تجدون ربطا التقرير الإقتصادي الأسبوعي المنظّم من قبل دائرة الأبحاث الإقتصاديّة في بنك الإعتماد اللبناني لفترة الأسبوع المنتهي بتاريخ 23 نيسان 2012. كما يمكنكم الإستحصال على التقارير الإقتصاديّة الأخرى المنظّمة من دائرة الأبحاث الإقتصاديّة على على موقعنا الإلكتروني.

Real Estate in Lebanon

Activity in the real estate sector extended its downturn in the month of February 2012 with the number of real estate transactions easing by 4.29% to 5,156 down from 5,387 in January. On an cumulative basis, the number of real estate transactions narrowed by 0.82% y-o-y to 10,543 up to February 2012, down from 10,630 as at the end of February 2011.  

Find out more in the attached Credit Libanais Market Watch, issue No.316 for the three-week period ended April 12, 2012. You may also directly access Credit Libanais' weekly report and other economic publications on our website.

واصل القطاع العقاريّ في لبنان تباطؤه خلال شهر شباط من العام 2012 حيث تراجع عدد المعاملات العقاريّة بنسبة 4.29% إلى 5,156 معاملة مقارنةً مع 5,387 معاملة خلال الشهر الأوّل من العام 2012. أمّا على صعيد سنوي، فقد إنخفض عدد المعاملات العقاريّة بنسبة 0.82% إلى 10,543 مع نهاية الشهر الثاني من العام 2012 مقارنةً مع 10,630 معاملة عقاريّة سجّلت خلال الفترة نفسها من العام 2011. 

للمزيد من المعلومات، تجدون ربطا التقرير الإقتصادي الأسبوعي المنظّم من قبل دائرة الأبحاث الإقتصاديّة في بنك الإعتماد اللبناني لفترة  الثلاثة أسابيع المنتهية بتاريخ 12 نيسان 2012. كما يمكنكم الإستحصال على التقارير الإقتصاديّة الأخرى المنظّمة من دائرة الأبحاث الإقتصاديّة على موقعنا الإلكتروني. 



Credit Libanais Taking On Social Media

A customer of ours tweeted once that he wasn’t happy with the customer service at one of the branches of our bank. He felt he had been charged a fee that he didn’t understand, and was unable to talk to anyone at the branch because the staff was packed by other people who were cashing in checks, looking for information, and was just pretty overwhelming that day . In his tweet (unbeknownst to him that we had just set up a twitter account) said that we had let him down and that he wasn't willing to call customer support because it took too long to talk to the right person.

To his surprise we followed him on Twitter and sent him a direct message. We explained that we were sorry to hear about this experience, and gave him a direct number to call for an explanation of the charges. A few hours later, he tweeted back saying problem was solved. He has since been tweeting positive comments about Credit Libanais, and thus we have decided to launch a full-blown social media strategy.

The Credit Libanais slogan is "Closer to You," but if you're one of our customers or have done business with us, we'd hope you'd know that it isn't just a slogan. We're striving to strengthening our customer loyalty and the overall banking experience for our customers because we don't want to skip a beat. We understand that in this digital age, being online is increasingly critical for us to become because of the lack of communication between Lebanese banks and the public in recent years.

That's not to say that a positive experience with branch offices and call centers isn't still extremely important to us. But social media gives banks and other financial service firms another arrow in their marketing quivers. Used strategically, it provides a powerful two-way dialogue with customers that can significantly improve their banking experience and help us develop ways to serve them better through an-open communication platform.

So, we hope you'll welcome us onto the digital scene! Let us know what you love about Credit Libanais, and more importantly, let us know how you think we can give you a better banking experience. We're here, close to you.

The Credit Libanais Team