QNB Al-Ahli Bank has announced plans to roll out mVISA service in cooperation with Visa Inc, becoming the first bank in Egypt to introduce the service.
The bank seeks to provide new services in the Egyptian market, notably in digital payments, based on the widespread base of 96 million mobile users.
Bassem Nour, the commercial and marketing director at QNB Al-Ahli, said that the bank always seeks to provide advanced payment services that contribute to reducing reliance on hard cash.
He added that the bank seeks to take advantage of the increased numbers of smart phone users in Egypt by collaborating with Visa in order to facilitate purchases made by the bank’s clients.
The mVISA card targets the vast majority of traders and is ideal for achieving financial inclusion. Anyone carrying a smart phone can use the card to pay for products and services, which saves time and effort.
The new card system can be used to pay electricity, gas, and telephone bills besides other services. The card holder can use their smart phone to process and finalise transactions and bills.
Additionally, mVISA will play a major role in expanding the use of electronic payments, and enhance the payment experience for Visa cardholders, according to the bank.
Incidents of fraud would drop or be non-existent because the cardholder is the one who enters the amount to be paid without having to physically use the card or pass it on to a sales point, as the cardholder completes the payment process easily via a smart phone and the trader receives a receipt on their phone confirming the consumer’s purchase.
mVISA is an ideal solution for a number of problems faced by traders, including the risk of keeping large amounts of cash in shops, as well as the cost, time, and effort associated with handling cash, according to the bank.
The launch of mVISA is aimed at helping the community to expand the role of electronic payments and financial inclusion, enhancing the transparency of financial transactions.
The plan is to make mVISA available to small- and medium-sized businesses, with the hopes of enhancing their business and broadening their customer base. The bank also wants to provide funding and products that contribute to the expansion of businesses for the benefit of the Egyptian economy.