“Why do I need to queue up for foreign currency and risk carrying cash in a digital-first world?”

Sandeep Mohapatra, Head of Digital Transformation and Technology, Absa Mauritius

The many advantages of Absa’s new multi-currency virtual card were highlighted during a panel discussion held as part of its launch on Wednesday 18 March. Sandeep Mohapatra, Head of Digital Transformation and Technology at Absa Mauritius, and Jean Noel Samy, its Cards & Payments Head, framed the product designed to respond to customer demand for greater convenience, security and control as a practical tool for online spending, travel and family money management.

During a panel discussion held for the launch of Absa Mauritius’ new payment solution in Ebene on Wednesday 18 March, a panel discussion brought together Sandeep Mohapatra and Jean Noel Samy, respectively Head of Digital Transformation and Technology, and Cards & Payments Head at Absa Mauritius. 

With Jean Noel Samy steering the exchange, discussions centred on a pivotal question: what does the launch say about the bank’s direction, and is the aim to make banking more digital and more convenient for customers?

 

“Customers are asking us for two things: absolute convenience and absolute security. And they won’t trade one for the other.”

 

Sandeep Mohapatra’s response was to place the product within Absa’s broader customer philosophy. “At the heart of everything we do lies a very simple yet very powerful belief that your story should matter,” he said, adding that every product the bank builds and every innovation it launches is intended to make customers’ lives “simpler, safer and empowering”.

In payments, he said, customers have made their expectations clear. “They are asking us for two things: absolute convenience and absolute security. And they won’t trade one for the other.”

Rather than move straight into the features of the new product, Sandeep Mohapatra took a step back to trace how ABSA has tried to change customer behaviour and experience over time. He recalled the period when the bank introduced vertical contactless cards, allowing customers to tap and pay on point-of-sale terminals. According to him, that development helped simplify day-to-day transactions.

He then pointed to the Covid period, when hygiene concerns rose sharply and contactless services became more important. Absa, he said, responded by launching what he described as the first fully contactless, cardless ATM feature, enabling customers to scan a QR code and withdraw cash in the amount of their choice.

The bank then moved into QR-based payments, launching QR scan-and-pay so that customers could scan a QR code and make account-to-account payments instantly, seamlessly and in real time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

Turning to merchant acceptance, Sandeep Mohapatra said that the Mauritian market is made up in large part of small SMEs that may not be able to afford expensive payment devices. To serve that segment, he said, Absa launched its Spark Business app, described as an all-in-one platform that combines multiple payment capabilities at low cost through a smartphone. He cited payment collection through QR, cards, remote payments via SMS links and e-commerce among the uses covered by the app.

“Travellers can use the digital card abroad and ‘pay like a local’ by tapping their phone and topping up whenever needed.”

The Head of Digital Transformation and Technology also referred to another recent launch presented on the same stage: Absa’s virtual cards and Absa Tap and Pay. That product, he said, effectively turned the customer’s phone into a card, removing the need to carry a wallet while offering “security and peace of mind” through tokenisation and by avoiding the disclosure of card details, protecting customers against theft, cloning, scams and spam.

Set against that sequence of innovations, the latest launch was presented as a more significant step. “Today, it is not just about a product launch. It’s not just about a feature launch. We believe it’s a milestone moment. We’ve taken a giant leap forward,” Sandeep Mohapatra said.

He described the new solution – a multi-currency virtual card – as “yet another Mauritius first capability.” At its core, he said, the card puts “global payments, enhanced controls and complete security directly into the hands of our customers.”

The discussion then shifted to practical use cases. Referring to growing concern over card fraud and scamming, Jean Noel Samy asked whether the product could help customers place more trust in banks and payment cards.

Sandeep Mohapatra replied that the issue had become highly topical as payments grew more digital and contactless. “Online scam, any form of phishing is a very real fear,” he said. Customers, he added, often ask what happens if their card is compromised: whether they will lose everything in their account or the full limit on their credit card.

According to Sandeep Mohapatra, the virtual card is designed to limit that risk. Customers can create a card instantly and top it up only with the amount they intend to spend. In a worst-case scenario where the card is compromised, only the amount allocated to that card would be exposed.

“It’s not your entire bank balance or your entire credit card. So, the maximum exposure is limited,” he said. “You safeguard yourself through controls.”

To illustrate the point, he referred to a demonstration video showing how customers can instantly create the card, top it up and use it, including for e-commerce and for tap-and-pay in physical stores.

Tasked with explaining more directly how the virtual card works, Sandeep Mohapatra invited two colleagues to stage a live example, one acting as a merchant using the Spark app, the other as a customer paying through the virtual card.

Travel also emerged as a major theme. Jean Noel Samy noted that many ABSA customers often travel abroad, and asked how the new card could help. As Sandeep Mohapatra noted, the excitement of travelling is often preceded by the inconvenience of sourcing hard currency and managing foreign exchange. Customers typically queue at a money changer or bank counter, take more foreign cash than they actually need, and later return with unused notes that must be exchanged back. He described that as a source of unnecessary friction.

“That’s an inconvenience,” he said, adding that customers often ask: “Why do I need to queue up for foreign currency and risk carrying cash in a digital-first world?”

The answer to their dilemma, he said, lies in the product’s multi-currency functionality. Customers can transfer funds in Mauritian rupees into four major currencies, namely US dollars, euros, pounds sterling and South African rand, and do so instantly. Travellers can then use the same digital card abroad and “pay like a local” by tapping their phone, topping up whenever needed and even withdrawing unused funds back into their account instantly.

Sandeep Mohapatra added that customers can create what he described as “sub-wallets within the same card,” have five different currencies on it, and transfer money between currencies instantly. A customer can also create several virtual cards for different needs like travel, online shopping, online subscriptions or even a spouse’s card, and within each card host five currencies.

The panel then turned to how customers can manage the needs of relatives while still remaining in control. Sandeep Mohapatra explained that this concern is common among customers supporting a child starting out, a homemaker spouse or a parent no longer in work. Those needs are real, he said, but customers often struggle to meet them without resorting to cash or giving out a complementary card, while still keeping oversight of spending.

His answer was that a customer can now create a dedicated family card in the name of a son, parent or spouse, top it up with a specific amount, convert it into the required currencies if necessary, and then manage it entirely from their phone. He added that customers can top up and withdraw funds at any time, temporarily block or freeze the card, cancel it instantly, manage the PIN, and view transactions in real time.

“That’s not just convenience,” he said. “That’s confidence and peace of mind. This is what we promise with this card.”

Sandeep Mohapatra then returned to the broader message of the launch. “Today is not just about another feature,” he said. It marks, in his words, “a meaningful leap forward for us on how our customers experience payments both locally and globally,” bringing Absa “a step closer to our promise that we hear our customers and their story matters.” 

Summing up the multi-currency virtual card, he said that it allows customers to protect themselves from card fraud, travel without worrying about foreign currency, pay like a local both online and in stores, support and manage family needs directly from their phone, and control everything instantly.

“Now that’s what I truly call banking that is safer by design, smarter by experience, global by default and always in your control,” Sandeep Mohapatra concluded.