Jean Marie Vianney Munana, a customer of Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), on Thursday went back home to Huye district in a very comfortable Haval 5 vehicle worth Frw 25 million, thanks to the 'Biba na KCB' promotion.

The car was one of the prizes handed over at the end of the six-month campaign that also aimed at encouraging saving. Other prizes included one million francs, air tickets to Dubai, fridges, TV sets and micro-waves - for a total value of Frw 60 million.

Launched in July last year, the promotion encouraged clients to regularly deposit a minimum of Frw 100,000 with the bank in order to stand a chance to win one of the prizes.

The winners were those who deposited their money to one of three dedicated accounts namely the KCB Cub Account (Intare Nto), the KCB Simba Savings (Ntare) and the KCB Mortgage Saving account (Urugo Rwawe).

Munana, a father of one and distributor of Bralirwa products, said he managed to save Frw 18 million to his account during the six-month campaign. He added that his new car will be very useful in his business.

By the end of the campaign, the bank registered close to 1700 new accounts and managed to raise Frw 1.7 billion.

Maurice Toroitich, the KCB Rwanda managing director, explained that the purpose of the campaign was not only to encourage people to open accounts with their bank, but also to encourage the culture of saving among Rwandans as it is in line with the government's policies. "The purpose of saving is not just winning a car, but building a capital that can be used later to start up businesses or finance great projects," he said.

He added that anyone should save no matter their income. "Even if your income is Frw 10, there must be a commitment to save for the future," Toroitich said. "In any country, we need saving for development."