Family Bank has unveiled a series of prepaid cards targeting, among others, the youth and traders in the e-commerce trade with China allowing customers to transact in multiple currencies including the Yuan.
The Multi-Currency Forex Card will allow traders, travellers, diaspora and business community to load multiple currencies in USD, GBP, Yuan and Euro on a single card accessible internationally and benefit from features such as waived off ATM access fee withdrawals, zero cross-currency charges, get insurance against unauthorized transactions on the card and access to lower transaction charges than international credit or debit cards.
At the launch event held at Daystar University dubbed Beba Uzito campaign, Family Bank also unveiled students’ prepaid cards and youth cards. The Student Cards target pre-teens and teenagers and will allow their parents to help them learn the saving culture through trackable spending. The Youth Card, on the other hand, targets tech-savvy youth aged between 18 – 25 years. The Bank also unveiled the General Purpose Family Bank Prepaid Card.
“As a Bank, our strategy is pegged on positioning ourselves as a competitive player through the roll-out of differentiated products that go beyond banking and by onboarding innovative partners such as Visa, a world leader in digital payments, who can be able to propel our strategic vision of delivering unmatched digital and customer experience catered to the unique needs of the different customers that we serve,” said Family Bank CEO Rebecca Mbithi.
“At Family Bank, we are cognizant that one of the ways of deepening financial inclusion across different ages and different types of customers is to diversify the portfolio and drive customer-led innovations that can exceed customer expectations.”
The prepaid cards can be used by both Family Bank customers and non-customers, they are not linked to any bank account, thus ensuring the funds in the Bank account are safe; the card allows one to budget and spend wisely within limits, where only the amounts topped up can be used; track spend through online banking and access statements regularly, especially if the card has been issued to a supplementary cardholder such as a parent issue a card for their child and allows one to make payments for free at any local Visa merchants and over five million merchants globally.
“In recent times, the spread of COVID-19 has accelerated the path to digital payments with rapidly increasing adoption of eCommerce, contactless payments, and P2P transfers across Africa. These shifts in consumer and merchant behaviour, and government priorities, have reinforced the role we can play in supporting economic growth and financial inclusion. More than anything business models need to meet the changing face of commerce as people move to online platforms. At Visa, we are aware of this need and regularly partner with our clients such as Family bank to develop solutions that suit the changing needs of the markets in which we operate,” said Eva Ngigi – Sarwari, Visa Country Lead for Kenya.
“Visa has long stood for trust, security, acceptance and inclusion. These core values, in addition to the goal of enabling access for everyone to participate in the global economy, highlight the power of Visa’s trusted global network, enabling modern money movement and expanding economic access,” added Sarwari.
89.9 percent of Family Bank customers have shifted transactions to the digital banking platforms with three-quarters of our existing customers at Family Bank transacting via card payments signifying that the adoption of a cashless economy is a reality that is now with us.
Five lucky students were awarded preloaded Youth Prepaid Card with Ksh5000 each during the launch of the Beba Uzito Campaign at Daystar University.
Re random g KRA is a good idea so that it can be people friendly.