Summary
The Namibian banking market is growing and innovative products are beginning to emerge. Namibian bank accounts are subjected to monthly account fees, and credit card accounts are subjected to annual fees*. The concept of free banking in Namibia is presently non-existent.
The Problem
There are no card control technologies available in the Namibian market, nor is there (yet) a bank that provides no-cost banking.
The Solution
Currently in the process of deployment, a new bank in Namibia is emerging. This bank is being designed to offer its account holders free banking services and innovative card products. Understanding the fraud saving benefits that Tranwall can offer to the bank from its onset has justified them implementing Tranwall and integrating it into the core of their card transaction processing. The potential fraud savings gained by allowing cardholders to control their cards further allows the bank to offer no-cost banking services. The card control implemented provides cardholders with the functionality to either enable or disable specific channels on their cards, including ATM, POS, CNP, Online Transactions, etc.
Cardholder Experience
Prior to the cardholder performing a card-based payment, they are required to activate their card by sending a specific SMS or USSD message on their mobile phone, or activate their card using the Tranwallet App on their smart phone. Failure to activate the card prior use results in a message being sent via SMS to the cardholder, including a note informing them to first enable their card and then retry the transaction, the transaction value and the merchant
name. Once the transaction has taken place, Tranwall TC automatically disables the card again, including the payment channel, ensuring the card is only enabled for a short duration of time. This automatic disablement of the card and the payment channel substantially narrows the window of opportunity for fraud.
Considerations
Full banking and card products will be made available to the Namibian public in 2013.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_living_in_Namibia
