MOSCOW–A Russian telco, MegaFon, is providing subscribers with a MasterCard chip-based card that can be topped up from a user's mobile account and used to make online and offline purchases.
The company is looking to make card-based payments a reality for people without bank accounts, including students, pensioners and migrant workers, as well as to drive loyalty among existing subscribers, according to FinExtra.com.
MegaFon has partnered with Round Bank, which is providing the banking license, and technology partners BPC and Inplat to support technical integration, card issuance and management, e-commerce and SMS banking.
Available to order from any MegaFon branch, the card supports contactless payments and can be loaded in much the same way as any airtime top up, FinExtra.com reported.
Ian Kukhalsky, new business and partnership director, MegaFon, was quoted by FinExtra.com as staying, “There was a huge demand from our customers for more options to use their mobile accounts, to get more services. This initiative is all about how to use a mobile account as your own wallet, in all senses - for online and offline payments - and even get additional benefits of a banking service."
These extra benefits include an 8% interest rate paid monthly on the balance held in mobile accounts, alongside 10% cash back deals from selected retail partners, FinExtra.com reported.