Barclays Bank of Kenya has launched their new prepaid card portfolio which comprise of multi-currency and payroll prepaid cards.
“Our Prepaid card profile allows cardholders to load funds from a corporate to staff to support wages, travel or daily expenses. The Multicurrency prepaid card in addition allows cardholders to load up to 9 currencies on the same card at any given time – in line with the bank’s continued commitment to offer innovative solutions and convenience to Kenyans,” the lender said in a statement.
The card will hold the US Dollar, British Pound, Euro, South African Rand, Canadian Dollar, Australian Dollar, Indian Rupee, Japanese Yen and the Kenya Shilling.
Barclays Bank MD Jeremy Awori was quoted as saying during the launch that the bank had outlined Innovation as one of its key strategic pillars of growth and pledged among other things, to explore new product developments, with an aim of positively improving customer experience as part of their centennial celebrations.
“The Launch of this card confirms our commitment to develop further the local cash lite economy as part of our innovation agenda,” he added.
Roy Ross, Chief Executive, Retail & Business Banking, Rest of Africa, said that the prepaid portfolio would increase the bank’s opportunities to provide solutions to their corporate and personal clients, in addition facilitating tuition payments via loan disbursement and encouraging co-branding partnerships with various institutions.
The Multicurrency prepaid card is primarily targeted at importers and exporters, regular travellers, students abroad and those who make regular online transactions.
“By offering foreign currency wallets, the card will cushion customers from foreign exchange exposure. The smart card automatically detects which funds to utilise across the currency wallets through an in-built intelligence system thus allowing the point of sale device , online or ATM to access funds from the wallet corresponding to the default currency of the country or merchant in which the transaction is taking place. This is the perfect card to issue out as a gift or to family members travelling and need your support in funding while away from home,” the bank said.
The Payroll & Student prepaid card is a single currency card designed to support local payment options via managed wallets which are secured to ensure payments can only be processed at authorised outlets or online purchases such as air tickets. This feature that funds are spend at approved locations as assigned by the funding institution.
“This card is designed with the convenience of its holders, ranging from businesses to leisure travellers, in mind and eases the need to carry cash in bulk or in multiple currencies. It also enables cash withdrawals from any ATM with the Visa acceptance sign and can be used to pay for goods and services at no additional cost to the cardholder,” said Zahid Mustafa, Retail and Business Banking Director Barclays Bank, during the launch of the card.
The prepaid card portfolio is open to both Barclays’ customers and non-customers and is easily accessed through a simple registration process at a corporate outlet or in any of the branches countrywide.
Cardholders will also be able reload the card over the counter or and by via M-Pesa, manage the account using a web based portal or via USSD and transact securely. The bank has also provided SMS alerts to enable customers to track transactions.
