BOV to launch digital wallet services in coming days

Bank of Valletta will be rolling out digital wallet services for its clients in the coming days, BusinessToday has learned.

Digital wallet services work through near-field communication (NFC) technology found in many of the smartphones available on the market today, and act as a substitute to the traditional plastic credit and debit cards.

Shoppers can use a digital wallet to pay for a purchase by simply tapping or waving the enabled device in front of the NFC-enabled terminal at checkout This is known as a contactless payment transaction.

If required, the customer provides a passcode or finger scan to approve the transaction.

The NFC receiver in the terminal reads the signal from the smartphone device, and the built microchip within the terminal, the Secure Element (SE), which holds personal and financial data, validates the transaction, which is then authorised by the processor.

BOV will be offering its digital wallet services to Apple Pay, Garmin Pay and an application for android phone users.

BOV Head of Card Payments Franco Xuereb told BusinessToday that the bank was focused on the increased safety and security that comes with having a digital wallet.

“Digital wallets are locked up with a pin code and smart phones can be locked with a pin code and even with face identification, providing a level of security that is lacking when someone steals a person’s credit cards or online identities,” he said.

“In addition, all of a consumer’s credit card and banking details are heavily encrypted by digital wallet applications.”

Xuereb said he expects the younger generation to be among the most frequent users of the service.

“Young people are more aware of the existing technologies available on the market, and we are expecting a lot of users from that age group,” he said.

Xuereb told BusinessToday that since upgrading the bank’s cards to being compatible with contactless POS machines, the number of transactions under €20 had shot up.

“70% of all transactions under €20 are now carried through contactless payment,” he said.

As to mobile banking, he said that customer were increasingly choosing to make use of the service, preferring to have a centralised destination to monitor their accounts.

“People are not even accessing internet banking, and prefer to carry out their financial deeds on their mobile devices,” Xuereb said.

And the BOV mobile app is expected to receive a facelift, as he says the bank is listening to the needs of its customers.

“We will be enhancing our mobile application, as we feel that it is where most people prefer to carry out their day to day banking needs,” he said.