Leading Regional East African retail chain Nakumatt Holdings Limited together with MasterCard has unveiled the Nakumatt Global Prepaid MasterCard card.
The card has been made possible by the two partnering with Kenya Commercial Bank and Diamond Trust Bank.
The new card, which is EMV compliant, replaces the current Nakumatt Cybercash loyalty smartcard and provides a range of enhanced benefits and security features.
With the multicurrency Nakumatt Global Prepaid Mastercard card, existing Nakumatt smartcard holders will continue accumulating their smart points for all purchases made across Nakumatt outlets.
Nakumatt Holdings Managing Director Atul Shah confirmed that plans are now underway to revamp the firm’s range of financial products and services as part of a wider strategy to provide convenient retail financial solutions such as utility bill settlements, insurance products, cash back, FOREX trade and money transfer services at Nakumatt tills..
“At Nakumatt, we have managed to integrate a most advanced Payment Gateway switch linking us with other financial service providers to facilitate the robust delivery of a number of financial services and products,” said Shah.
The new card also features MasterCard contactless technology, which offers consumers a ‘tap and go’ option. Although new to Kenya, contactless payment technology is touted as the answer to those seeking fast yet secure modes of payment, and is supported by multi-level security protection.
“The card is a true reflection of Nakumatt’s and our other partners’ resolve to triumph over adversity,” said Daniel Monehin, Division President, Sub-Saharan Africa at MasterCard. “The Nakumatt Global Prepaid MasterCard card is a great win for this market and a proof that MasterCard’s vision of a world beyond cash is not only possible but is actually happening. Today, 85 percent of the world’s transactions are still carried out in cash and cheque,and 98 percent in Kenya.”
KCB Group CEO,Joshua Oigara said: “KCB is a regional Bank and therefore our customers across East Africa will enjoy more convenience and choice. The Nakumatt Global Prepaid MasterCard is one such product and we are proud to have partnered in the process of bringing it to pass. ”
Nasim Devji, Group CEO and Managing Director of Diamond Trust Bank commented: “Promoting economic development in working towards Kenya’s Vision 2030 is an extremely important driving force for DTB. The Nakumatt Global Prepaid MasterCard card is about providing an exceptional value proposition through loyalty points, tap and go technology, savings on foreign currency, and more. All these whilst providing consumers peace of mind by embracing security features such as EMV chip which is fast becoming a global standard”
The Nakumatt Global Prepaid MasterCard card also has multicurrency capability which allows consumers to upload the prepaid card with either: Kenya Shilling (KES), U.S. Dollar (USD), Euro (EUR), British Pound (GBP), Indian Rupee (INR), South African Rand (ZAR) and the Australian Dollar (AUD). As a result, cardholders can load money for purchases at POS terminals, make cash withdrawals and online purchases as well as save on the costs incurred in multi-currency transactions.
Nakumatt plans to replace its old generation Smart Cards with the Nakumatt Global MasterCard prepaid card. The cards will be available from all Nakumatt outlets and also from selective branches of the partnering banks, beginning with Kenya before rolling out to Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda where Nakumatt operates.