United Bank for Africa (UBA) has introduced a Value Added Services (VAS) on its POS terminals to make payments for services such as airtime, cable subscription, electricity, and water.
Cardholders can also effect payment for Pay TV, telecoms, lottery and gaming companies, schools fees, government levies, taxes and dues.
The deployment, already begun with selected merchants, will be concluded in December 2014.
UBA has also introduced SmartMoney prepaid card especially designed for the younger generation for online shopping as well as travel and dining.
It will initially be issued in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Burkina Faso this year and by early 2015 in all the 19 countries across Africa where it has operations.
“SmartMoney comes as a prepaid card that is easy to use, convenient and safe, with chip and PIN technology, you can load up and explore every corner of the globe and web the easy, convenient way,” said UBA Divisional Head of e-Banking, Yinka Adedeji.
SmartMoney card is accepted card in more than 1.6 million Visa ATMs worldwide, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
It can also be linked to UBA’s mobile banking platform, U-Mobile, enabling cardholders to access banking services on their telephones wherever they are in the world.
SmartMoney also provides online access to the Visa Travel Planner, with which a cardholder can create own travel guidebook using Lonely Planet content, Visa offers, and ATM locations.
Users can load the exact amount they want to spend on the card. This ensures that they are able to effectively manage their spending plans while travelling or shopping.
“SmartMoney is the perfect prepaid card for students and young adults. It is a trendy card that is designed not only to stand out but also help youths keep a tab on their spending patterns.
“It is gives a sense of freedom and security since it is not tied to the cardholder’s bank account. So, there is no fear that a cardholder’s bank account will be compromised with SmartMoney,” Adedeji explained.