Credit card transaction processing company MasterCard aims to convince local banks that they should back its virtual mall solution.
Shuan Ghaidan, group head of product sales and delivery in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa region, says the company's latest offering is an online product that allows small and medium companies to accept credit card payments.
“At no extra cost to the merchant or the bank, the whole three-dimensional environment is available, backed up by a fraud management module,” Ghaidan says.
He adds that online fraud is more prevalent than in the physical world, and MasterCard has implemented a secure-payment process to combat crime. This includes additional measures, such as IP address tracing, and a secure authentication method that asks users a question only they can answer.
Local potential
He says the online mall is already being backed by an Australian bank - Commonwealth Bank - and he now wants South African banks to also offer it. Since the launch of the pilot phase in April, 8 000 small and medium companies have signed up.
Africa is a key target area for the online mall, he notes. Ghaidan explains that most economies are cash-based as few people have access to credit cards and other traditional banking methods. The online processing portal does away with the need to have a credit card machine available to customers, he says.
The product is hosted and maintained by MasterCard, but forms a part of the bank's offerings and is an online mall on its Web sites. The offering is more cost-effective than having a credit card machine in store, but pricing is up to the banks, he adds.
Ghaidan explains that the service allows smaller companies to have an online presence, along with other small businesses, in a secure environment. This solution also eliminates the need for companies to develop their own Web sites. “It is a complete outsourcing service that banks can provide.”
In addition, he says, banks can brand the offering with their own logos, and call it anything they choose.
Ghaidan explains that the online mall is based on an Internet payment gateway, which was launched in 2000. Since then, the offering has been taken up by over 100 banks, which provide it to over 100 000 merchants.
He adds that the payment solution is seeing yearly growth of 70%. “There is a pent up demand from merchants that the banks couldn't address themselves.”
Share