Summary
During the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup hosted in South Africa, tourists required a safe, simple and convenient way to pay merchants without exposing themselves to fraud. NeoAfrica event card, a prepaid MasterCard product backed by Tutuka and Standard Bank was provided to tourists in conjunction with a pre-programmed mobile phone bundled with prepaid airtime.
The Problem
There are no temporary card control technologies or secure prepaid card products available to tourists for major events.
The Solution
The NeoAfrica event card product provided tourists with a secure payment mechanism backed by Tranwall TC implemented at the card issuer, Tutuka. This implementation provided visiting tourists with an effective and simple way to control their event cards and transact with confidence. The NeoAfrica event card could be controlled using the provided mobile phone through a simple menu interface that facilitated USSD communications.
Cardholder Experience
Prior to the cardholder performing a card-based payment, they were required to activate their event card by holding down (pressing) specific speed-dial numbers that were preprogrammed into their mobile handsets. The pre-programmed speed-dial numbers that controlled the NeoAfrica event card were saved USSD strings that had various functions as described below:
1. CARD ON (USSD based speed-dial)
2. CARD BALANCE (USSD based speed-dial)
3. CARD OFF (USSD based speed-dial)
4. CARD RELOAD (USSD based speed-dial)
5. CARD CALL CENTRE (GSM based speed-dial call)
Failure to activate the event card prior use resulted in a message being sent via SMS to the cardholder, including a note informing them to first enable their card by pressing the #1 key, and then retrying the transaction. Included in the SMS message was the transaction value and the merchant name. Once the transaction had taken place, Tranwall TC would automatically disable the card. Should the cardholder activate the card and not transact on it for a predetermined amount of time, Tranwall TC would disable the event card as a security measure.
Considerations
The event card was valid for the duration of the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup and ran for a period of 24 months from the start of the event.
