UBA will use Ixaris Payment Server to deliver innovative payment options for individuals and corporates .

The e-commerce market in Africa is predicted to reach $75 billion by 2025[1]. However, many consumers and businesses across the continent currently lack a secure, convenient and low-cost means to make purchases online. To take a share of the market opportunity, UBA selected Ixaris Payments Server to quickly and cost-effectively deploy payments programs based on virtual prepaid cards.

“We have partnered with Ixaris and Ojapay to make this convenient payment option available to customers because virtual cards are not only easy and convenient to use but also protect users against online fraud. They will offer our customers across Africa a new layer protection and security for their online transactions.” said Kennedy Uzoka, Deputy Managing Director and CEO, UBA Africa.

Complementing its range of physical card products and mobile banking applications, UBA’s new virtual card option will enable more than 10 million customers across twenty African markets to make safe and easy online purchases at any online merchant worldwide.

The new virtual payment card will also enable UBA Corporate Clients to take advantage of the wider range of goods and services available on the Internet, while also enhancing internal controls through full traceability of purchasing and payments activities.

Virtual cards work in the same way as plastic payment cards but are issued in electronic rather than physical form. They have now become the payment instrument of choice for a range of flexible solutions for payments-related problems faced by consumers and corporate organisations in many regions of the world.

Virtual cards are indistinguishable from physical cards when used for payments and are already accepted at millions of merchants worldwide that accept Visa or MasterCard payments. In contrast to plastic, virtual cards can be issued to any connected device instantly and at almost zero cost.

“Virtual cards offer our customers an exciting new option to securely consummate their transactions. As one of Africa’s leading banks, we are proud to offer customers another innovative payment solutions. The changing dynamics of the African banking industry means that we have to constantly seek value-adding partnerships that meet the financial challenges faced by our customers.” Uzoka said.

Alex Mifsud, Founder and CEO of Ixaris, commented: “We are excited to be working with UBA, one of the most respected banks in Africa, to help bring safe and convenient e-commerce to millions of people who can really benefit from it. This deal shows how open payments platforms like Ixaris Payments Server are transforming how banks approach the product development lifecycle for payments. By using this technology, enterprising banks like UBA can bring compelling payment applications to the market at a fraction of the time and cost it would take using traditional methods”.