Visa, the international credit card company, has introduced a new card for travellers which can be used in automatic teller machines (ATMs) around the world but does not require the holder to have a bank account or credit history.
The concept, Visa Travel Money (VTM), works rather like traveller's cheques. In the same way that traveller's cheques can be bought at certain dealers in return for the equivalent in cash and a handling fee, travellers can purchase a VTM card from any of the associated banks for the equivalent of the sum they wish to take with them.
Once abroad, the money can be drawn from any of the 300 000 or so Visa-linked ATMs around the world. A pin number is needed, as it is with any ATM card.
The procedure for replacing lost or stolen VTM cards is similar to traveller's cheques. If a pin number is compromised, as long as the card is cancelled promptly, using either the telephone numbers found on ATM machines or Visa's international toll-free helpline number, there will be no loss of funds.
Chris Winter, senior manager, business development at Visa in South Africa, says any unspent money on the card, including whatever amounts are too small to be drawn from an ATM machine, can be retrieved by taking the card back to the issuing bank.
First National Bank and Visa ran a trial on VTM cards last year to coincide with travellers visiting the Olympic Games. The reaction is still being evaluated.
Absa confirmed it would be issuing Visa Travel Money in the last quarter of 1997. The cards will be available from Absa's larger branches first and from the smaller outlets by early 1998.
"Absa considers Visa Travel Money as a logical migration from traditional paper-based foreign currency instruments to a more secure and convenient plastic-based method of payment," Pieter van Wyk, general manager: card issuing and cardholders services, says.