Chase Bank Partners with Harlequins Rugby Club

CHASE BANK.K LTD TO SPONSOR KENYA HARLEQUINS RUGBY CLUB

KENYA, Nairobi, January 19th, 2012, 9.00am, Riverside Mews – Riverside Drive. Chase Bank (K) Limited will on this date announce the sponsorship of Kenya Harlequin Rugby Club.

Chase Bank (K) Limited will on the 19 of January 2012 announce its new sponsorship towards the Kenya Harlequin Football Club which will run for a year, as from September 2011 to September 2012.

Through the Bank’s newly launched Pre-paid MasterCard cards, this sponsorship will see the Bank become the 2011/2012 official banking partner for one of Kenya’s oldest and most successful Rugby teams, the Kenya Harlequin Football Club.

This will be the first time in the history of Kenya rugby that a bank will be launching a Pre Paid MasterCard Card specifically tailored for the Harlequins rugby fraternity - The Chase Harlequins Card. Harlequin’s card holders will be entitled to discounts at the club, purchase from all MasterCard registered vendors. In addition, club members can gift friends and family with the Chase Harlequins MasterCard card.

The main Objectives of the sponsorship are to partner towards:
• Creating product awareness
• Enhancing brand presence
• Fostering  mutually beneficial relationships with  the Rugby community

The Bank will also be involved in activities to support the Harlequins team throughout that period.

In attendance from Chase Bank will be Ken Obimbo, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Vincent Lubia, Assistant General Manager-Business Development and Abdul Razak Hussein, Manager- Business Development. From the Harlequins Club, Philip Jalang’o, Chairman of Kenya Harlequin Football Club and Mr. Mwangi Muthee, Chairman KRFU.

Bank Information:

Chase Bank (K) Ltd was incorporated in 1995. The Bank received awards for being the Fastest Growing Bank in Kenya in 2009 and 2010, as well as a special award for product innovation, at the Banking awards 2011 in recognition for their role in creating innovative products for the SME market.

The Bank’s key focus is creating memorable customer experiences by ensuring all customer relationships are managed meticulously for mutual benefit. The Bank provides one-stop financial solutions that are customer centric and currently has 19 Branches. Plans are underway to further expand their branch network to various other locations in the country.

Chase Bank (K) is a locally progressive bank with an Islamic window that places a keen focus on the SME. The Bank, modeled around relationship banking provides its customers with value added services like Bank Assurance and Bank Brokerage to improve their overall customer experience.

Kenya Harlequin Rugby Club
The Kenya Harlequin F.C. was formed when a group of enthusiasts decided that there were enough players in and around the capital to allow the formation of another team; teams already in existence at the time included Nondescripts RFC, Old Cambrians RFC, the Nairobi Railway Club RFC, Kenya Civil Service RFC, Kenya Police RFC, Nairobi Garrison RFC and Royal Air Force RFC.

The idea was put forward by Peter Barron (later to become the club's first honorary secretary) and Ben Cook. The club was formed in 1952 and immediately sought affiliation with the London Harlequin F.C. in England. The committee contacted the London club to ask whether Harlequin badges could be sewn onto the shirts, however only one badge was sent, which was sewn to the Captains shirt for the first game.
   

Affiliation
The affiliation gives the club the right to wear the London club colours, the honour extending not only to the playing kit, but to all uses of colours and insignia including the blazer badge, tie and honours caps. This honour had only been granted to three other clubs prior to this, Pretoria Harlequins (South Africa) in 1906, Melbourne Harlequins (Australia) in 1928 and Hamilton Harlequins (New Zealand) in 1938. Though the Hobart Harlequins (Tasmania, Australia) were formed in 1934 they did not seek affiliation until much later, making them the fifth member of the group. The sixth sister club was the Dallas Harlequins (Texas, USA) who were formed in 1971 but not granted affiliation until 1983. In 2004 the Future Hope Harlequins RFC of Kolkata, India were welcomed into the family and the latest club that has been brought into the fold is the Abu Dhabi Harlequins in 2008; Etihad being the mutual sponsor of this and the London club, were instrumental in bringing about the latter connection.

ENDS

For more information please contact:
Philip Jalango
Kenya Harlequin Football Club Chairman
Email: pjalango@comstar.co.ke

Abdul Razak Hussein
Relationship Manager - Chase Bank (K) Ltd.
Email: arazak@chasebank.co.ke  
    
Magdalene Mulandi
Senior Manager - Marketing and Communications
Email: mmulandi@chasebank.co.ke
Office line: 2774 250/175/146
Cell Phone: 0722 409 163