ComBank launches pre-paid cards with online top-up facility

Commercial Bank of Ceylon has launched pre-paid cards that can be topped up with funds online and can be used for different or specific purposes while allowing its users to better manage spending and enjoy minimal exposure to risk.

Among the cards introduced to the market are a multi-purpose Spend Card that can be used by individuals to provide money for spending to family members and a pre-paid Web Card for online transactions.

A pre-paid Spend Card can be obtained from any Commercial Bank branch or service point by depositing Rs.1,000 to a pre-paid account. 

Customers are required to complete the bank’s standard KYC (know your customer) requirements and the cards can be used by topping them up or reloading via multiple channels including bank counters or through online banking. There is no annual fee for the card, which is valid for five years.

Available to residents of Sri Lanka, the card can be used for point-of-sale purchases locally and overseas, for online purchases and for cash withdrawals. This card has Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled Tap & Go technology and has the full functionality of a normal NFC debit card. It eliminates the need to carry large amounts of cash by the individual and allows secure and instant transactions. 

The bank said this card is an expedient and safer way of providing spending money to family members, including children. The transaction details can be viewed through the web portal provided by the bank.

Meanwhile, the ‘Prepaid Web Card’ launched by Commercial Bank is designed for customers who carry out regular online transactions and prefer to maintain a separate card for ease of monitoring their transactions.

This card can also be obtained at any branch of the bank by submitting the necessary information for registration and making an initial deposit of Rs.1000. This card minimises the cardholder’s exposure to online fraud as the user can top up the required amounts periodically by visiting a branch of the bank or by reloading the card by transferring money from a current or savings account via ComBank Online.

The Web Card can be topped up or reloaded up to Rs.300,000 and enables the cardholders to control and monitor their online spending in a planned manner. It also eliminates the concern of security that most customers have in using their regular credit or debit cards for online transactions. Online transactions performed using this card are also supported with additional authentication where the cardholder needs to enter a one-time password to authorise the transaction. In order for this additional authentication to work, the merchant should support the 3D Secure protocol.

If customers want to withdraw the money reloaded to their cards, they can do so by visiting any ATM connected to the Visa network and using the given PIN numbers. Customers can monitor their transactions by logging in to the web portal hosted on the bank’s website.