“We launched the Virtual Card last year as part of our journey to avail convenient and safer solutions via a trusted platform.  We are delighted that our customers have embraced the solution and are getting the benefits, including rewards that come with shopping with their Virtual Cards. The growth validates our belief that digital is central to the future of payments, and we are encouraged by our customers’ appetite to embrace digital migration,” says Raj Makanjee, CEO of FNB Retail.

FNB customers have more reasons to buy items using their Virtual Cards, as the bank is now providing free insurance cover on online purchases made with FNB and RMB Private Bank Virtual Cards. The insurance, aptly named ‘Purchase Protect,’ will cover customers’ purchases for 30 days after purchase, up to R15,000.

Chris Labuschagne, FNB Card CEO says, “The distinct differentiators of world-class security and convenience make FNB’s Virtual Card a preferable transactional method for customers. We are delighted to see our customers driving what we believe to be the future of payments globally. The FNB Virtual Card comes with a dynamic CVV number that changes regularly to minimise the risk of fraud and customers can also use their Virtual Cards for eCommerce purchases, streaming services, subscription payments and QR payments via Scan to Pay on the FNB App. Additionally, our customers can also use their Virtual Cards for contactless ‘Tap to Pay’ transactions in all FNB Pay enabled digital wallets such as FNB’s Tap to Pay and Scan to Pay as well as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Fitbit Pay and Garmin Pay.”

FNB customers are reminded to always keep information such as PINs and passwords safe and to only authenticate transactions they have initiated.

Raj Makanjee, Payments Executive at FNB says, “We are truly humbled by the overwhelming response from our customers. On average we saw over 14 000 customers activating Virtual Cards daily.  FNB remains committed to providing a range of unique and innovative solutions that are centred around true customer and business value. Virtual Card forms an important part of our journey to make the customer payments experience as convenient, safe and secure as possible.”

Customers can immediately load Virtual Cards on their FNB and/or RMB Private Bank profile and link it to a debit, credit or fusion account at no additional cost to shop safely and conveniently. Customers also have the flexibility to create multiple Virtual Cards for each transactional account, or multiple Virtual Cards to better manage spend across merchants.

A customer can for instance create a dedicated Virtual Card on their Fusion account for their Netflix subscription and have a dedicated Virtual Card on their Credit Card for online shopping. These are just a couple of examples of the flexibility of the solution. All virtual cards are free of charge.

“What stands out for our customers as they take up the FNB Virtual Card, is the dynamic Card Verification Value (CVV) security number that changes every hour to help them minimise the risk of fraud. The Virtual Card is safely stored on the App and customers can temporarily block, cancel or replace their Card via the App. Our customers can also use the Virtual Card to pay digitally via Scan to Pay, or during check-out for online purchases.

In addition, and testament to our innovative nature, we did not need to create a new store of value for customers to access this functionality as it works on all existing transactional accounts,” says Chris Labuschagne, CEO of FNB Card.

“We continue to work closely with international platform players and we expect to launch a couple of exciting payment options in the near future,” says Labuschagne.