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| CashCard’s Fund Transfer Capabilities Excite Nigerians |
Apart from the
fact that CashCard can be used for just
about any transaction which range from
making purchases on the Internet, buying
groceries at the supermarket through a
point of sale(POS) terminal to withdrawing
cash from Automated Teller Machines (ATM),
many Nigerians are excited that the card
has made funds transfer “a piece
of cake”.
Cashcard
is a card that is pre-funded with cash
which can then be used for the purchase
of goods and services or any other transactions.
It is powered by Interswitch, Nigeria’s
premier transaction switching and payment
processing provider.
Unlike
a debit card, a holder of a CashCard does
not need to operate or own a bank account.
This is so because a CashCard is directly
linked to a virtual account such that
information and the cash value on the
card is resident in a central database
which can be accessed through any of the
various terminals such as: ATMs, Point
of Sale terminal (POS), Mobile and Websites
that are connected to the Interswitch
network.
According
to InterSwitch’s spokesperson, CashCard
is not only used for payment and cash
withdrawals, it is also used for funds
transfer. The funds transfer capability
of CashCard is one of the strongest features
of the product. She added that when a
fund transfer is done from the CashCard
website, a notification of the transfer
is sent to the receiver through an email
and sms.
To put
the card’s capability to the test,
fund transfer can be made from one CashCard
to another. This can be effected through
the CashCard’s website, POS terminals
and some designated bank branches. Funds
can also be transferred from one CashCard
to any bank account located in any of
the 23 banks on the InterSwitch network.
Today,
the 23 banks include GTBank, Zenith bank,
Intercontinental bank, First bank, Afribank,
UBA Group, Wema bank, Unity bank, Bank
PHB, ETB and Skye bank.
Others
are Fidelity bank, Sterling bank, Oceanic
bank and Ecobank, First Inland, Diamond
bank, FCMB, IBTC Chartered Bank, Union,
Springbank and Access banks.
To verify the capability of the CashCard,
opinions of various end-users were sought.
One of the respondent is Mr. Matthew Adeleke,
an engineer who works with a construction
company in Lagos.
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He had transferred cash from his CashCard to the CashCards
of his children who are undergraduates at the University
of Abuja at a critical time “when travelling
is not an option”.
He said: “With my CashCard,
I don’t have to go to the bank to transfer money
to my children in the University of Abuja. Instead
of travelling, all I have to do is to log on to the
Internet and access the CashCard’s website (www.mynigeriacashcard.com)
in the comfort of my office. And, believe me, within
minutes, the transaction is completed. It is so convenient.”
Another cardholder, Mrs. Joyce Esohe Maiyaki, who works with one of the GSM companies, also attested to CashCard’s ability to transfer fund to any of the 23 banks.
“Until I started using CashCard three months ago, I never knew that any fund transfer machine can handle inter-bank transfer within the country. With my CashCard now I transfer money to any account on the Interswitch network just at a token”, she said, adding that CashCard has come to solve the problems associated with money transfer in the country.
Mr. Peter Ewesor, a businessman of repute who is an earlier adopter of e-payment systems said that he has always believed in the card payment option in the country.
“Cashcard, for me, is just taking it to another level. It is convenient, and it makes it easy for me to transfer fund to my business associates in other states whenever the need arises”, he said, corroborating the fact that the charges are minimal compared to what is obtainable on other money transfer platform.
The standard charges on CashCard money transfer is N100, this is also one of the advantages that is driving the fast adoption of this product. This, coupled with the fact that it provides online real-time monitoring of all transactions activities done.
According to Mr. Mitchell Elegbe, managing director, InterSwitch, “the adoption of CashCard will reduce the dependence of the economy on physical cash, while making it possible for the under-banked and un-banked to enjoy the benefits of banking without operating a bank accounts”, he said.
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