Visa targets the unbanked

Financial services company, Visa has unveiled a payments product designed for emerging markets to serve the needs of the unbanked who have mobile phones, PC World reports.

The prepaid Visa account can be accessed through a mobile phone and used by accountholders to send funds to each other, make purchases at merchants or online where Visa is accepted, or withdraw funds at a Visa ATM.

Visa has been hard at work on a mobile digital wallet that it hopes to roll out early next year, The New York Times states.

“It won't require a physical card attached to the account,” says John Partridge, president of Visa. “It's a virtual prepaid account designed specifically for the mobile market in the developing world.”

Partridge explains the service is part of Visa's larger strategy of expanding its payment network. The service will charge users a small fee for each transaction.

The service will begin in Nigeria and Uganda and move across the rest of Africa, as well as Asia and Latin America.

Visa confirms the service will be delivered using an app designed by Fundamo, a company it recently acquired, Tech2 says.

MTN says it will bring Visa's mobile prepaid account access to users in Africa and the Middle East under its MTN Mobile Money scheme. Users in Nigeria and Uganda, too, will be able to use this service to transfer money.