First National Bank (FNB) recently announced its virtual card feature for customers. Now, it’s revealed that FNB virtual cards will function via third-party digital payment wallets, including Samsung Pay, Garmin Pay and Fitbit Pay.

The bank also announced that it has surpassed R1 billion in payments via its virtual card payment system since it launched — which is a rather large number. “It’s particularly pleasing to note that this substantial value of payments was recorded in just nine months to mid-September 2021 on approximately 500,000 FNB and RMB Private Bank Virtual Cards,” says FNB payments executive Raj Makanjee.

Early in August, Apple Pay finally made its way to South Africa and was the first digital wallet to support virtual cards.

Some of the other well-known digital wallets like Samsung Pay, Garmin Pay and Fitbit Pay have supported physical FNB cards for ages, and now users will be able to load a virtual card in lieu of the plastic one. This will increase security and limit the possibility of fraud when paying in-store or online.

How FNB’s virtual card works

A virtual card makes use of a dynamic CVV (you know, the secret number at the back of your credit card). So what this means, is that the CVV will change every hour, which makes it more secure.

It’s a great option for anyone who is concerned about credit card fraud online. When you don’t have a physical card that you can protect by hiding it under your mattress, a dynamic CVV is ideal. The virtual card’s expiration date is also longer than a physical card, which also increases security.

Tap-to-pay in FNB’s app currently still lacks virtual card capability, but the bank assures us the feature is coming soon.