METROBANK Card Corp., the country’s leading issuer of credit cards, seeks to contribute to financial inclusion by introducing a card-based payment system that can be used by millions of young Filipinos without access to typical banking services.
Metrobank Card is set to launch on Oct. 1 a reloadable prepaid card product called “YAZZ,” which will facilitates cashless transactions with accredited Visa merchants and automated teller machines worldwide.
“YAZZ,” a hip derivative of the word “yes,” targets the social media-savvy youth and young working professionals aged 29 and below who can not meet the minimum balance requirement for credit cards.
This new product, the first prepaid card offered by Metrobank Card, allows the young customer to enjoy the same perks and convenience of a credit card, without the need for credit evaluation or a bank account.
Metrobank Card president Riko Abdurrahman said the potential market for YAZZ was huge given the local demographic base. He said he would be happy to enlist at least one million each year of the 60 million young Filipinos.
He said it’s timely to launch the new product with the rise of new electronic payment channels. He also said there’s a huge demand from tech-savvy young people for card-based solutions.
Abdurrahman said this contributes to the security and convenience of customers. “Handling cash is not safe.”
Metrobank Card senior vice president Aloy Alday said, “this is our contribution to the desire of the government to push financial inclusion. Not only will people of a certain income get banking services.”
Yazz is designed to function in the same way a prepaid cell phone works. The customer can avail of a starter kit from accredited merchants in major hubs. The starter kit costs P300 and comes with a P50 initial load. The card, which uses the EMV global standard for chip-based technology, is good for five years.
Unlike a debit card, Yazz is not linked to any bank account, but it will still follow the face-to-face registration requirement and transaction limits set by banking regulators. A maximum amount of P10,000 can be loaded per day and up to P100,000 per month. The transaction limits are to ensure that the cards can not be used for money laundering.
A fee of P20 is charged per loading, offering a cheaper rate for people remitting money. The ATM withdrawal fee is also at P20 per transaction.