Wirecard Rolls out Virtual Visa Prepaid Card in the Netherlands
Wirecard has begun issuing in the Netherlands the pay2d Visa card, a virtual prepaid card for online payments. Wirecard, which worked on the card with fintech firm 3V Benelux B.V., said this marks its first virtual prepaid card rolled out in that country, where e-commerce is expected to grow 12.1 percent in 2016, according to the research firm Ecommerce Foundation.
The virtual card, which is available online, will appeal to young consumers, said Angelique Brussel, managing director at 3V Benelux. That’s in large part because they will be able to control their spending and top up their virtual prepaid card accounts in a variety of ways, while making online purchases simpler, she suggested. For example, users can top-up their pay2d Visa card accounts with bank transfers via the European-based, bank-supported iDeal online payment system that’s especially popular in the Netherlands, accounting for 56 percent of e-commerce purchases there, according to iDeal. Consumers also can make card-to-card transfers.
The Wirecard virtual prepaid card launch comes amid several new initiatives, including a partnership with payments processor GPS and Bottomline Technologies to support a digital banking solution called “U,” which was designed by U.K. program manager FFF Ltd. The U account is the first foray for Wirecard Card Solutions and GPS into agency banking, which will enable clients to provide cardholders with payment functionality including direct debit, Faster Payments and Bacs credits, in addition to standard prepaid account features.
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