BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier (PNA File Photo)
MANILA -- Banks and technological solutions companies continue to introduce new products that cater to specific groups such as those who love shopping and traveling, and take-up is strong not only because of incentives but security features as well.
However, some people said the limit on the amount they can load in their prepaid cards is smaller compared to the amount they can spend when they use their credit cards.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) Friday that the regulatory loading limit for a cash card is PHP100,000.
But Fonacier stressed the load cap “is not absolute.”
“EMIs (electronic money issuers) can always request for a higher limit provided that the purpose and use can be justified and there are mechanisms in place to ensure that such cash cards will not be used for money laundering and other illicit activities,” she added.
Cash cards are now in demand since people have started to realize its benefits such as safer to carry than cash, and because the central bank continues to push for the increase of electronic payments, with a target for it to reach 20 percent of total transactions by 2020.
Earlier this month, Filipino-owned infrastructure platform firm OmniPay and global payments services company Diners Club International Ltd. launched their tie-up for the dollar-denominated OmniPay Diners Club Forex Prepaid Card.
A plus for this card is it comes with a mobile app that allows holders to do real-time card-to-card transfer, and quick response (QR) payments on top of the usual balance inquiry, which can only be done through automated teller machines (ATMs) for some prepaid cards.
OmniPay President and Chief Executive Officer Simoun Ung said ensuring the safety of the cards issued by their partner company is a must, and is one of the challenges they need to face to be ahead of the pack.
“I guess one of our advantages is that we built our own and operate our entire IT (information technology) infrastructure,” he said.
Ung said the company has noticed “a lot of pent-up demand” for payments card, and projects an additional 2 million OmniPay Diners Club Forex Prepaid Card issuance by its first year.
He stressed hey have put in place measures to prevent their cards from being used for money laundering.
“We do all traditional (measures) but more importantly, I think the KYC (know-your-customer) has to be very strong. And one of the things that we're working with the central bank on this to do an e- KYC,” he said.
Ung noted they intend to undertake the KYC process by getting prospective customer’s biometrics.
“You can do things like that. That's part of our front-end mitigation for the risk for money laundering,” he said.
“And the backend, of course, we track where the money goes. You can do that in terms of the velocity checks -- whether we see a lot of same cards or same series of cards all spending at the same place and those types of things are on our system,” he added. (PNA)
