CAPE TOWN - Standard Bank announced that it has launched a new virtual card system.
The Standard Bank virtual card is accessible through the bank’s mobile app, where it can be created and topped up with cash on an ongoing basis.
The new virtual card comes in partnership with Samsung to enable the Samsung Pay wallet for customers with compatible smartphones.
Standard Bank said the virtual card can be a Standard Bank card or a co-branded card with one of its e-commerce partners including Takealot, Travelstart and Zando.
The virtual card can be used on any local websites and will soon be compatible with international platforms.
“Trust, security, and control are some of the reasons for this trend. However, a safe, secure virtual card completely changes the conversation.”
Standard Bank’s Samsung Pay partnership also allows Samsung phone users to pay with their smartphones at any retail store in South Africa where the Mastercard or Visa tap-to-pay logo is displayed.
Head of Emerging Payments, Wendy Pienaar, said the virtual card ecosystem has already undergone a comprehensive testing phase.
“At the moment, very few South Africans shop online and those that do, tend to use a credit card or only pay cash-on-delivery. Trust, security and control are some of the reasons for this trend. However, a safe, secure virtual card completely changes the conversation. It allows customers to shop online irrespective of the type of card or account they have. This new solution puts customers in the driver’s seat as they only load the amounts they want to use,” says Pienaar.
“We want to make sure that a Standard Bank’s payment solution becomes the preferred choice for digital experiences – it can be plastic, virtual, tap to pay, or Samsung Pay. Customers retain their plastic, but we are making sure people who want to go beyond normal cards, can now participate in an exciting online shopping world which is getting bigger every day – online and on your phone,” says Ethel Nyembe, Head of Card Issuing in South Africa.
How it works:
1. Store your bank card details in the application on a Samsung device,
2. Pay merchants by tapping or ‘swiping’ your smartphone rather than a physical bank card.
The app lets you make payments via Magnetic Secure Transmission, which mimics the magnetic stripe on the back of your card.