Dollar-based Visa prepaid card launched

Sterling Bank of Asia has rolled out what it claims to be the Philippines’ first dollar-based Visa prepaid card embedded with the EMV chip, as it seeks to help Filipino travelers better manage their budget.

EMV stands for Europay, Mastercard, Visa and is the global standard for chip-based credit and debit transactions.

Compared with magnetic stripe cards, the computing power of the chip ensures security and global interoperability so that cards can be accepted worldwide.

The bank teamed up with Visa to introduce “ShopNPay US Dollar Visa Prepaid,” which primarily aims to reduce the risk of carrying large amounts of cash when traveling, Sterling Bank said in a statement.

“We are proud to partner with Sterling Bank of Asia for the ShopNPay US Dollar Visa Prepaid Card. This innovative product will provide Filipino travelers with a simple and convenient way to pay, reducing the reliance on cash, which can be less secure and harder to track when traveling abroad,” said Visa country manager for the Philippines and Guam Iain Jameson.

“We constantly develop innovative products to fulfill the needs of our clients. The ShopNPay US Dollar Visa Prepaid card is a convenient and secure way for our clients to manage funds when traveling abroad. It also makes shopping overseas a seamless experience,“ said Sterling Bank president Lamberto Villena.

As the fluctuation in exchange rate is one of the key concerns of travelers, Villena said such volatility risk had been addressed by this new product.

“With the ShopNPay US Dollar Prepaid Visa Card, no currency fluctuation for US dollar transactions will be experienced by cardholders as the US dollar exchange rate is locked-in at the time of card load, thereby giving cardholders complete control over their travel funds,” Villena said.

The ShopNPay US Dollar Prepaid Visa Card can be accessed locally or overseas. It can also be used for online purchases such as for hotel bookings and plane tickets, thereby curbing risks of fraud.

The ShopNPay US Dollar Prepaid Visa card can be used to withdraw funds from over two million automated teller machines around the world and can be loaded by transferring funds from existing Sterling Bank Solo Dollar Savings account, free of charge or via inward remittances.