IDFC Bank Partners MobiKwik

MUMBAI:
IDFC Bank, MobiKwik and Net1 have partnered to launch a co-branded virtual prepaid card on the Visa platform to customers of MobiKwik.
Around 65 million users of the MobiKwik will gain access to an IDFC Bank virtual card embedded within the app, making digital purchases at all e-commerce merchants easier and faster. Customers of MobiKwik can generate a 16-digit Visa virtual card through the app and use it for e-commerce and online transactions. This is one of the largest issuances of virtual prepaid cards globally.
The co-branded card is set to be launched in early December. The partnership marks IDFC Bank’s biggest foray into the prepaid card segment and significantly enhances MobiKwik’s wallet acceptance across Visa’s network.
Net 1, a leading international payments company, is a partner and a strategic investor in MobiKwik, has provided its proprietary virtual pre-paid card lifecycle management technology for this.
Avtar Monga, Executive Director, IDFC Bank, said: “The prepaid card space is evolving fast, encouraged by technological disruption and a growing preference for digital payments. IDFC Bank’s prepaid solutions seamlessly integrate its technology stack with that of MobiKwik, to not only digitise payments but make them transformational, from a customer experience standpoint. This marks the beginning of a long-term strategic alliance where both partners can leverage their respective strengths. We are delighted to partner MobiKwik, Visa and Net1 for one of the largest ever issuance of prepaid cards.”
According to Upasana Taku, Co-Founder, Mobikwik, “On the first anniversary of demonetisation, we are happy to note that Indians are fast developing a digital mindset and paying with the MobiKwik wallet has become a habit for millions of Indians. The IDFC powered virtual card will enable MobiKwik users to transact digitally across millions of merchants both on the Mobikwik and Visa networks.”
T R Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, India & South Asia for Visa, said, “Prepaid instruments are rapidly gaining importance to expand the digital payments market in India. With less than 10% of personal consumption expenditure being digital in India, a wider variety of payment instruments helps bring more consumers into the digital payments habit. Helped by a growing number of available applications and acceptance platforms, virtual prepaid cards are fast emerging as a popular form of payment amongst the new breed of online shoppers in India. We are excited to be working with partners like IDFC Bank, and
MobiKwik to enable instruments such as the virtual prepaid card, which bring the same level of security, convenience and ease of use as we have for debit and credit instruments, particularly in the online space.”
Dhruv Chopra, Managing Director, Net1 India, said: “We are pleased to enable MobiKwik and IDFC Bank to launch a large-scale virtual card deployment using our proprietary MVC technology. This combined initiative facilitates two key components of financial inclusion, namely accessibility and interoperability, and supports the coordinated effort to move to a less-cash world.”
Recently, MobiKwik has formed a string of smart partnerships with leading blue-chip brands such as BSNL, Bajaj Finserv Ltd and IndusInd Bank, thus starting to impact almost 260 million Indians. In August 2017, BSNL went digital by launching a bespoke mobile wallet developed and issued by MobiKwik. Recently, the company has partnered with Bajaj Finserv Ltd. to develop an EMI wallet through which customers can avail credits and loans. Bajaj Finserv-MobiKwik wallet is also India’s first credit wallet. MobiKwik has also developed India’s first auto-load wallet for IndusInd Bank’s 10 mIllion plus customers, who can make purchases just by tapping their wallet and their money gets automatically debited from their IndusInd account.
In addition to convenience and safety, prepaid solutions also provide users enhanced flexibility, making them user-friendly payment alternatives. In a span of two years, IDFC Bank has created a digital experience that cuts through all customer journeys. It has also sought to widen the country’s digital net to include first-time users, offering them a simpler and faster experience. The use of technology is evidenced in the Bank’s fully loaded user-friendly mobile app, an omni channel user-experience and the first-of-its-kind integrated banking platform for small businesses as well as corporates.