MAM
DBS Bank India introduces travel marketplace on digibank app
MUMBAI: DBS Bank India has introduced ‘Travel Now’, a one-stop travel marketplace within the digibank app. The new feature enables customers to browse and book flights, bus tickets and hotels across hundreds of destinations within and outside of India. Customers can also opt for travel insurance, offered by Bharti AXA General Insurance, with an automated claims process for flight cancellation, and flight departure and arrival delays of over 60 minutes.
digibank’s intuitive UX is designed to remember customer preferences and deliver a customised and hassle-free experience. Customers can make payments using their digibank account through a seamless and secure one-click payment process, thereby eliminating the need to enter or save card details and wait for an OTP. They can also avail a range of targeted offers tailored to their individual requirements.
DBS Bank India executive director – digital bank Kartik Jain said, “Recognising that customers often spend significant time navigating multiple sites for their travel arrangements, we have introduced a one-stop-shop in digibank to cater to all their travel needs and streamline their booking process. The Travel Now proposition provides an intuitive booking experience, including bespoke flight cover with automated claims solution, and hassle-free one-click payment from the customer's DBS account. The proposition aligns with our focus on delivering innovative and seamless solutions to address our customers' needs.”
The integrated insurance offering is available for flight and bus bookings in partnership with Bharti AXA General Insurance Company Ltd. Designed to address customer pain-points and key challenges in their travel journey, the insurer auto-detects flight delays and flight cancellations and notifies the customers, while enabling an automatic claims process. The claim journey is a simple, two-click process, and the amount is directly credited to the customers’ account. For bus bookings, customers can avail an accidental death cover of up to five lakh rupees and an emergency medical expenses cover up to one lakh rupees at a price of Rs 20 (inclusive of taxes).
DBS introduced digibank in 2016 and has acquired one million savings accounts since its launch. In addition to savings accounts, digibank provides unsecured loans and is the first to offer paperless onboarding for mutual fund investments from multiple fund houses. DBS also provides a compelling suite of services and wealth solutions through DBS Treasures. These include accelerated account opening services globally, an all-in-one digital banking and wealth management platform, remittance services and 40+ exclusive signature experiences and bespoke privileges to its customers.
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Abhay Duggal joins JioStar as director of Hindi GEC ad sales
The streaming giant brings in a seasoned revenue hand as the battle for Hindi television advertising heats up
MUMBAI: Abhay Duggal has a new desk, and JioStar has a new weapon. The media and entertainment veteran has joined JioStar as director of entertainment ad sales for Hindi general entertainment channels, adding 17 years of hard-won revenue experience to one of India’s most powerful broadcasting operations.
Duggal is no stranger to big portfolios or bruising markets. Before joining JioStar, he spent a brief stint at Republic World as deputy general manager and north regional head for ad sales. Before that, he put in three years at Enterr10 Television, where he ran the north region for Dangal TV and Dangal 2, two of India’s leading free-to-air Hindi channels. The north alone accounted for more than 50 per cent of total channel revenue on his watch, a number that tends to get attention in any sales meeting.
His longest stint was at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, where he spent over six years rising to associate director of sales. There he commanded the Hindi movies cluster across seven channels, owned more than half of north India’s revenue across flagship properties including Zee TV and &TV, and closed marquee sponsorships across the Indian Premier League, Zee Rishtey Awards and Dance India Dance. He also handled monetisation for the English movies and entertainment cluster and the global news channel WION, a portfolio that would stretch most sales teams twice his size.
Earlier in his career Duggal closed what was then a Rs 3 crore single deal at Reliance Broadcast Network, one of the largest in Indian radio at the time, before that he helped launch and monetise JAINHITS, India’s first HITS-based cable and satellite platform.
His edge, by his own account, lies in marrying data and instinct: translating audience trends, inventory signals and client demands into long-term partnerships built on cost-per-rating-point discipline rather than short-term deal chasing. In a media landscape being reshaped by streaming, fragmented attention and AI-driven advertising, that kind of rigour is increasingly rare and increasingly valuable.
JioStar, which blends the scale of Reliance’s Jio platform with the content firepower of Star, is doubling down on its advertising business at precisely the moment the Hindi GEC market is getting more competitive. Bringing in someone who has spent nearly two decades doing exactly this, across some of India’s most watched channels, is a pointed statement of intent. Duggal has spent his career turning audiences into revenue. JioStar is clearly betting he can do it again, and bigger.
