SINGAPORE, 16 February 2021 – The Year of the Ox is upon us and celebrations are looking very different this year. For the past few years, ERA Singapore had organised a physical celebration at its headquarters to mark the auspicious start of the business in the new lunar year. During this festive occasion, thousands of the agency’s staff and real estate salespersons (RES) would gather at its respective headquarters to celebrate and exchange auspicious wishes, angbaos and mandarin oranges.
This year, in keeping with safe distancing measures, ERA Singapore has hosted a virtual celebration instead where staff and RES across 10 countries – Singapore, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam – were invited to join and revel in the festivities on Zoom!
Slated for 16 February, 11.00am, the live-streaming included auspicious greetings by ERA’s senior management and its leadership team, as well as lion dance performances. Video recordings of its representatives from the respective regional offices were broadcasted, offering their well wishes and greetings in their native languages. All personnel involved in the celebration followed the safe distancing guidelines as set by the Government – a team was stationed onsite to ensure strict compliance.
“Despite having to celebrate Chinese New Year differently, we wanted to create and soak in the festive mood and usher in the Lunar New Year with optimism and vitality,” says Jack Chua, Chief Executive Officer, ERA Asia Pacific. “The silver lining with going virtual is that all 18,000 members of our ERA family can now be a part of this annual tradition, wherever they are in the world, to make it a truly OneERA affair.”
Digital gifting via DBS QR Angbaos
Other than the virtual celebration, ERA has also adopted digital gifting and will be distributing DBS QR Angbaos to close to 500 staff and Division Directors. This company-wide effort is in line with the organisation’s digital acceleration journey, which includes a digital signature initiative announced back in November 2020.
To redeem, the staff can simply scan the QR Codes on the DBS QR Angbaos and receive the monetary gifts via DBS PayLah! or PayNow instantly. This eliminates the use of red packets and the need for new bank notes, which helps to reduce carbon footprint. ERA is amongst the first wave of companies in Singapore that are making the shift towards digital gifting.
“I am excited to receive the QR Angbao, says Nicole Ong, Management Trainee, ERA. “This way of receiving angbaos is not only convenient, but also safer in our current climate whilst still preserving the tradition of giving. This festive season, I will be encouraging my relatives and loved ones to send angbao money electronically as well!”
An Ox-spicious Start: Lucky ERA Real Estate Salespersons drive home the Tesla Model 3 and Mercedes-Benz CLA Coupe for 6 months free
LytePay, a Singapore-based financial solutions provider that partnered with ERA Singapore to provide a first-of-its-kind business wallet, recently hosted a LytePay Lucky Draw in conjunction with the ERA Property Weekend 2020 during the 10.10 weekend. The top 2 prizes, which were won by ERA RES, included free six-month rental on the Tesla Model 3 and Mercedes-Benze CLA Coupe.
As part of the organisation’s ongoing efforts to reduce the use of cheques and cash transactions, ERA’s game-changing business wallet – the first and only real estate agency adopting such a service with LytePay – was first announced during its quarterly business conference on 20 August 2020.
Real estate salespersons usually have to wait three to six months after a deal’s closure to receive their commissions. This new business wallet now allows salespersons to transfer their commission advance funds to their bank accounts using the LyteMoney service. The business wallet also comes with a payment card powered by Rapyd, called Lyte Talent Card. The partnership with Lytepay further deepens ERA’s adoption of digital payments technologies, which is a cornerstone of financial inclusion society.
Since August, we’ve helped agents cashout millions across thousands of transactions. An estimate of more than 30% of active ERA RES is on board the service.
