Dubai: HSBC has introduced a ‘virtual’ debit card in the UAE, which the UK bank says is a first in the Middle East.
These cards, which operate on the Visa platform, generate single-use card numbers, or ‘tokens’, for each transaction. The payment is debited directly from the corporate cardholder’s current account.
Using Visa’s ‘Payables Automation’ platform, a card gets distributed electronically, protecting the primary card number.
“With increased demand for more flexible payment channels. HSBC is investing to create a bank fit for the future,” said Kailash Nair, Regional Head of Commercial Cards, Middle East North Africa and Turkey, HSBC. “Launching Virtual Debit Cards is a prime example of the bank’s digital upgrades in action, by which we are able to bring to our clients more choice in making B2B payments.”
The bank already issues 'virtual' credit cards.
- More than 10,0000 companies around the world think “digital is key” to businesses succeeding as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to HSBC's Navigator survey
- 32% of high-growth firms expect technology-driven efficiencies to be a key driver for their recovery, more so than businesses with lower or no growth
- 87% plan to invest in digital tools and platforms next year
- 30% have already innovated new products and services
