Zimbabwe’s Cross-border Traders Association, in collaboration with Selafin South Africa, a financial-services subsidiary of Selacor Group of Cos., has launched a reloadable prepaid card for its members who travel to South Africa, the trade group announced last week.
The MasterCard-branded Selafin Rand chip card provides traders with access to money and to funeral and medical-insurance facilities, a spokesperson for the association tells PaymentsSource. It also will provide cardholders a fly-and-pay later service and roadside emergency assistance in South Africa, he adds.
“The card can be used at any ATM or POS terminal in South Africa,” the spokesperson says. “If any of our patrons want to withdraw a large amount of cash, they can also do so at any Travelex branch in the country.” Travelex, a foreign exchange firm, is working with Selafin, for this project.
The association has more than 60,000 members who face a high level of risk from robberies and armed attacks in South Africa because they carry large sums of money. The Selafin Rand card will help mitigate that risk by alleviating their need to carry large amounts of cash, according to the spokesperson.
“In addition, we will also be able to fight the black market for currency exchange, which apart from being a felonious activity has also resulted in our members ending up with fake rand notes,” he says.
The association also is working with Moonlight Funeral Services Zimbabwe to cover repatriation in case of death, according to a press release announcing the card.
Moonlight automatically will deduct a premium of approximately 35 rand (US$5 or 3.6 euros) per month from the card amount to cover the repatriation policy, the spokesperson says. The card also comes with basic health-insurance coverage for a one-time payment of 180 rand, he says.
To obtain a card, association members must visit a Selafin branch or one of its local partners in Zimbabwe, show their passport and pay 140 rand. Once they activate their card, cardholders will have to make a minimum deposit of 500 rand to the card account, up to a maximum of 50,000 rand.
What do you think about this? Send us your feedback.
