Visa perks up card service

Visa, the global payment solutions provider, will introduce contactless cards and QR code payment in Bangladesh by October this year, providing further means for becoming a cashless society.

About 20 banks have applied to the Bangladesh Bank for approval to add the two new features to their existing Visa cards, said TR Ramachandran, Visa's group country manager for India and South Asia.

Ramachandran's announcement came at an event to celebrate Visa's 30 years in Bangladesh.

“All the debit cards of Visa will be converted into contactless cards by October this year,” he said, adding that the feature has already been introduced in neighbouring India.

Contactless cards allow customers to make payments simply by waving the card, or one's smartphone, near the point of sales machine without the need to swipe or insert the card into the machine.

The cards provide customers with improved convenience as the speed of transactions is significantly faster and offer increased protection from card fraud than traditional cards.

“Such payment solution will add value to card service.” Also in Visa's plans is QR code payment, which allows customers to make payments with one's smartphone without the need to carry cash.

The QR code stores one's bank information in a pixellated format in one's phone, which can be flashed in front of the QR code scanner of the vendor and the transaction would be complete. The technology is already available in Bangladesh by way of Bank Asia, United Commercial Bank's Upay, pay365 and iPay.

Visa will take adequate security measures before introducing the new features to enthuse trust in the solutions among clients, Ramachandran said.

Currently, only 5 percent of the total consumer spending occurs through the digital channels. “So there is a large room to move the digital payment products.”

Digital payment is growing slowly in Bangladesh due to a lack of acceptance of the payment solutions among customers, he said.

“The government needs to build awareness about digital payment as it will reduce currency costs.” The cash currency cost is 2 to 3 percent of the total GDP of the country, he added.

Visa is currently associated with 47 banks in Bangladesh.