Standard Bank launches new virtual card system and Samsung Pay support
Standard Bank has launched Africa’s first virtual card ecosystem.
The launch comes in tandem with a partnership with Samsung to support and enable the new Samsung Pay wallet, the bank said in a statement on Thursday (2 August).
Head of Emerging Payments, Wendy Pienaar, said that the virtual card ecosystem has already undergone a comprehensive testing phase and is on-boarding a string of leading partners to accelerate customer’s participation in e-commerce.
“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,” she said.
“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,” she said.
According to Standard Bank, the virtual card is designed to remove any friction from the customer’s online experience and is accessible through the Standard Bank’s mobile app – where it can be created and loaded in a matter of seconds, topped up at any time and used on an ongoing basis.
The card can be a Standard Bank card or co-branded with one of its e-commerce partners – which range from Takealot.com, Zando, Travelstart and Admyt – with others like Uber set to be linked up soon.
The virtual card can be used on any local website, with international support arriving at a later date.
“Because the majority of customers are not shopping online, we want people to have their online shopping experiences in an environment where they feel safe and have control over their transactions,” said Pienaar.
“As we partner with more local and international partners, we will begin seeing customers embracing the digital offerings that are out there – from buying flowers online to that latest gaming app subscription.”
Samsung Pay
Standard Bank said that its Samsung Pay partnership also signals a paradigm shift – allowing both Samsung phone users and Standard Bank customers to pay with their smartphones at their favourite retail store, in South Africa, wherever the MasterCard or Visa tap-to-pay logo is displayed.
“This functionality applies to new and recent Samsung phone iterations, but is extremely user friendly, with a picture of a card safely and securely digitising the card on the phone,” it said.
“It means users no longer need to take a card out of their pockets or carry a wallet – they can simply use their fingerprint or iris and tap at the point of sale.”
“Customers want the freedom to select and switch between channels for each step of their shopping journey: browse, compare prices, sample, try and eventually purchase and share on social networks,” said Pienaar.
“They may have gone into a shop in the physical world to try out the product and then use Samsung Pay, credit card or Snapscan to buy it; or they may go home, order online and pay with a virtual card.”
Read: FNB launches tap-and-go pay support for Fitbit and Garmin
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