Al-Arafah, Mastercard bring contactless cards

Al-Arafah Islami Bank, in collaboration with Mastercard, yesterday launched the first contactless Islami debit and prepaid cards in Bangladesh.
The move came after Bangladesh Bank last month gave the green light to roll out contactless debit and prepaid cards with a view to pushing digital transactions in the country.
Contactless cards facilitate payment just by waving them at the point of sale (POS) terminal without the need for any signature or PIN verification. The cards are embedded with near-field communication technology that allows secured payments.
The central bank first introduced the technology only for credit cards in July 2018.
The contactless cards were launched at a ceremony at Sonargaon hotel in Dhaka.
“We take pride in collaborating with Mastercard to introduce its first Islami debit card. We strongly believe the card’s value propositions will facilitate transactions for our valued cardholders,” said Farman R Chowdhury, managing director and chief executive officer of the bank.
“Mastercard is delighted to partner with Al-Arafah Islami Bank to launch its first contactless debit and prepaid cards,” said Syed Mohammad Kamal, country manager for Bangladesh at the global financial services company.
The launch is in line with Mastercard’s commitment towards bringing smoother, faster and safer payment solutions and also a significant step in support of Bangladesh Bank’s recent move to increase adoption of contactless cards in the country.
There are about one lakh POS terminals in Bangladesh and about half of them are equipped to process contactless transactions.
“Since about 90 per cent of cards are debit, contactless cards for the segment will bring convenience for a vast number of customers and eventually push the cashless dream of the country ahead,” Kamal said.
The POS terminals would have a compatible reader where the card would be waved for authenticating transactions.
Payments of up to Tk 3,000 can be made using the contactless method and it is up to the customer to choose this option or use regular modes of payment that require a signature or keying in the PIN number. Banks in Bangladesh issued 2.56 crore debit cards and 11.98 lakh prepaid cards as of January this year.
“Card usage is still concentrated in the cities and we need to take it to the rural areas,” said Mezbaul Haque, general manager of the payment systems department at Bangladesh Bank.
“The banks have a huge opportunity to expand their business in those areas and this is one area we all should work together,” he added.
Vikas Varma, chief operating officer for South Asia at Mastercard, virtually participated in the event.