Dubai: The National Bonds Corporation (NBC) gave 480,260 prizes worth Dh36.68 million to 75,550 winners in 2017 under its Annual Reward Programme.

The investment company providing innovative, Sharia-compliant financial products and services in the UAE, said the prizes were split across 162 nationalities. Emiratis won 33 per cent of the of prizes, followed by Asian expats (30 per cent), Arab expats (25 per cent), Western expats (11 per cent) and other nationalities (one per cent).

In a statement issued on Sunday, the NBC said among the winners, 57 per cent were men, 29 per cent women and 14 per cent children.

“We are very pleased to report we gave away more than Dh36 million to our customers in 2017. In line with our ‘save and win’ philosophy, our rewards programme is designed to encourage savings among our customers and give back to our community. Something we are very passionate about," said Mohammad Qasim Al Ali, Chief Executive Officer at NBC.

He pointed out the year 2017 marked the UAE’s ‘Year of Giving’, an initiative illustrating the generosity and hospitality of the UAE. “To demonstrate our commitment to the government’s initiative and encourage residents to invest in their future, we gave more prizes to our customers in 2017 than ever before. Something we are very proud of,” added Al Ali.

Of the 2017 winners, 19,124 were regular savers (individuals, who are signed up for a monthly saving plan with National Bonds). Regular savers accounted for 34 per cent of the total number of prizes, winning more than Dh12.40 million (seven regular savers got Dh100,000 each, two Dh1 million each, and the rest approximately Dh1,000 each). The return of investment for a regular saver in 2017 was 2.5 per cent from prizes only. The winners are due to receive the annual profit on top of their investment in the first quarter of 2018.

The NBC Annual Reward Programme first began in 2006. Since then, NBC has given away prizes worth more than Dh540 million to 342,740 winners of 166 nationalities. Among them, 166 customers won the grand prize of Dh1 million each.