Cantonal banks joining forces with Viseca to launch new generation of debit cards
Zurich, 12 May 2017
The new debit card from Mastercard combines innovative features with customer-oriented services, representing a new generation of bank cards. Swiss banking customers will be able to use the cards to make payments at points of sale around the world as well as online. Freiburger Kantonalbank, Banque Cantonale du Jura and Aargauische Kantonalbank are the first banks in Switzerland to offer their customers the Debit Mastercard via their card issuer Viseca Card Services SA.
The Aduno Group is teaming up with three banks in Switzerland to launch the Debit Mastercard. This modern debit card combines the well-established advantages offered by traditional bank cards with the additional, contemporary and futureproof functions of a Mastercard. Online shopping, acceptance around the world, security and full control of expenditure are just some of the advantages that customers of Freiburger Kantonalbank, Banque Cantonale du Jura and Aargauische Kantonalbank can expect when making transactions with the new card. Martin Huldi, Chief Executive Officer of the Aduno Group, said: “We are delighted to be teaming up with three of our shareholder banks and at the same time pioneer banks to launch this product. To all of us here at the Aduno Group, this move not only means an expansion of our product portfolio, but also that we will be able to offer constant added value to our banks in our capacity as a full service provider.”
Simple and secure solution for online shopping
“It gives us great pleasure to be able to offer our card issuers a smart bank card in the form of the Debit
Mastercard, which meets the habits and needs of their customers and is fitting for the times,” added Guido Müller, Country Manager of Mastercard Switzerland. Using the Debit Mastercard, customers around the world can make payments at over 43 million Mastercard instore and online acceptance points. The Debit Mastercard comes equipped with the ability to make contactless payments and can also be used to make mobile payments, i.e. using your smart phone. Edgar Jeitziner, President of Freiburger Kantonalbank, said: “Our objective is to always be able to offer our customers the most innovative products. The Debit Mastercard represents a new generation of payment card that can be used to make payments around the world, safely, securely and even online. The new debit card is a perfect fit for our customers as a supplementary offering.”
Customers who pay for products and services using this new bank card issued by Viseca can rely on the highest security standards. The Debit Mastercard will of course be subject to the conditions currently applicable for all Viseca Mastercards. In 2015, a technology was launched in the form of VisecaOne (www.visecaone.ch) which makes the use of Viseca payment cards more secure, and at the same time, simpler. Payments are more secure because of the “Dynamic Strong Authentication” technology and simpler thanks to the faster 3-D Secure (3DS) authentication procedure in use during online shopping. Thanks to VisecaOne, customers can be given real-time updates in the app about transactions involving their card and know at all times when a payment has been made on their card. Bertrand Valley, Director General of Banque Cantonale du Jura, said: “We are impressed with this new generation of debit cards. As with the credit cards provided by Viseca, the VisecaOne app is also used to approve online payments made using the Debit Mastercard and the 3DS authentication procedure. What’s more, our customers always have a full overview of all of their card transactions. The one thing that our portfolio was missing and now has is the combination of security and convenience offered by the Debit Mastercard, which can also be used for online shopping.
The future for the new payment cards is here
An ever-increasing number of bank customers are using mobile banking, and the financial sector has already responded to this advance in digitisation. It is important for banks to be able to offer their customers innovative products that can be used in their everyday lives. It’s quite simple – whether you’re going shopping on your lunch break, booking a holiday online or quickly ordering takeaway food to be delivered, using a credit card or a Debit Mastercard to pay is secure and fast, with millions of online shops and businesses, hotels, restaurants and airlines around the world accepting Mastercard as a cashless means of payment. Pascal Koradi, CEO of Aargauische Kantonalbank, is also of the same view: “We believe that the route to success in terms of payment cards is in the intelligent bundling of services. It is high time for an innovative bank card that suits our customers, meets their needs and is compatible with the way in which they make payments. We have been impressed by the Debit Mastercard thanks to its multifunctionality and full range of services in both the virtual and the real world.”
The new, innovative Debit Mastercard will be launched on the Swiss market for the very first time. Customers of Freiburger Kantonalbank and Banque Cantonale du Jura will be able to obtain the Debit Mastercard from their banks starting in autumn 2017, while customers of Aargauische Kantonalbank will be able to get the card from spring 2018. There are plans to combine this card with the range of functions provided by the already established Mastercard Credit and Mastercard PrePaid cards.