The world of banking is increasingly focusing on bringing consumers digital options. In a COVID-run world, half the people don’t want to go into physical banks and the other half don’t feel comfortable touching the keypads at pay points. The solution may not be virtual cards. But… Capitec is now offering virtual cards in South Africa.
How the virtual card works
The main thing making virtual cards so appealing is the fact that they’re more secure when it comes to online payments. Capitec customers can now apply for a digital card through the Capitec app. The additional ‘card’ will be stored right there, in-app. You’ll never feel the piece of plastic in your hand.
“It is not a duplicate of the client’s physical debit card and has a different number and CVV. It is in fact a new, virtual debit Mastercard that is linked to a client’s Global One account. Clients can manage the virtual card and its limits on the Capitec app,” Capitec detailed.
Capitec is making the product available to all existing clients. “The virtual card is available to all our clients. They just have to activate it on our new banking app. They can then use their virtual cards to securely make payments and purchase products online. It can also be set as the default card for scan to pay transactions and loaded for payment onto apps such as Netflix, Takealot and Uber, safely and securely.” says Francois Viviers, Executive of Marketing and Communications at Capitec.
According to Capitec, it’s safer to use the virtual card. That’s because no one can steal it or take a pic to use later on. You’ll be able to access the virtual card’s details in-app when loading it to make a purchase online. Even if something happens that seems dodgy, users can deactivate a virtual card immediately using the app.