As e-commerce becomes increasingly
popular, two questions come to the fore: how can the under-banked
access it? And how can youngsters take responsibility and be
safeguarded when spending their money on the web? Sara Perria
reviews how the Visa Prepaid Citizen Card may solve these
issues.
Online shopping and e-commerce seem to have
found an ally in a new product, aimed at the unbanked and the
younger internet generation.
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Visa Prepaid Citizen Card was launched in July
by a not-for-profit organisation called CitizenCard. It is a proof
of age and identity card and is recognised by the Home Office,
the Scottish Government and the police.
Its prepaid card functionality allows users to
load up to GBP 5,000 (USD 7,800) on the card.
The chip and pin secured card offers the
reassurance of a proof of age system that, stops underage-users
from accessing websites suitable for adults only or purchasing
‘forbidden’ goods in shops.
According to research by CitizenCard, support
for the prepaid option was almost 47% among the over 18s and 42%
among 16-17 year-olds.
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By GlobalDataCitizenCard chief executive Andrew Chevis
says: “When asked for an explanation, respondents said that a
prepaid [card] does not require a credit card check, meaning it’s
available for everybody in the population, including people who are
not eligible for conventional banking products such as a credit or
debit card,” Chevis explains.
E-payments: expanding the scope
As Chevis points out, “there is no question
that without a Visa or a MasterCard [product] you are not going to
be able to shop online. Even if you’ve got a PayPal account you
have to be linked at a certain point to a bank account or to a
debit or credit card”.
“Online shopping [is] a huge part of sales in
Britain and elsewhere and the reality is that a card like ours will
enable everybody in the population – whatever their age and their
economic circumstances – to participate in the online shopping
experience and access those good-value goods and services which are
available online and not in shops,” adds Chevis.
Feeling safer
The Visa Prepaid Citizen Card can be acquired
only through CitizenCard’s website, through strict compliance with
Home Office requirements, as for all approved ID schemes.
In practical terms this means a ‘vigorous’
Know Your Customer (KYC) check, through the request of a referee
and parents’ consensus in the case of under 18s.
Once the material is gathered it has to be sent by post to the
not-for-profit, who will proceed with the due check.
If the application is successful, the card will come, carrying
the date of birth, but also an age band (12-15, 16-17, 18+ and 21+)
and a linked code.
This is one of the product’s key-features, as it means that only
some online purchases will be authorised. For example, users aged
12-17 will not be able to pay at licensed premises or at gambling
websites.
The age of the user will be identified by the
first 8 digits of the 16-digit card number, which are different for
under and over-18s than adults to enable websites and merchants to
distinguish between adult and child cardholders.
“We have blocked merchant codes such as
alcohol and tobacco and we have told all the big retailers about
the project so it’s up to them to have the system in place and,
from what we understand, it is,” Chevis says.
The card also has substantial support from
players, such as the National Federation of Retail Newsagents
(NFRN) and Tobacco Manufacturers Association (TMA).
TMA secretary general Jaine
Chisholm Caunt says: “The cards contain the date of birth in
both the chip and mag strip, which takes these PASS cards to the
next level for age identification and/or preventing under-age
sales. The age band is also clearly displayed, helping
retailers to ensure that tobacco products are sold only to
over-18s.”
NFRN chief executive Paul Baxter says “NFRN
believes the Visa Prepaid CitizenCard is a huge step forward for
PASS Proof of Age. The Visa logo and hologram will add to the
acceptance of the card as a valid ID and the clear distinction
between 12-15, 16-17 and 18+ cards will help our members to comply
with the ever-stringent laws on underage sales”.
On the other hand, the card will allow over-18
to prove they are entitled to access restricted services.
This product is also aimed at the 18 plus and
21 plus market and this is the main reason why the card can be
uploaded up to GBP 5,000.
“In this way we are enabling people to put
their wages on a card, if they haven’t got a conventional bank
account, as many people haven’t,” Chevis says.
Financial education
CitizenCard, which has a cost of GBP 15 – or
GBP 30, if requested ‘immediately’ – is also
promoted as a financial educational tool.
Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg) chief
executive Tracey Bleakley says: “Children and young people have to
make financial decisions much earlier on in their lives than their
parents. Financial confidence is key in ensuring young people make
the right decisions about spending and saving. Pfeg welcomes the
new initiative, which will contribute to ensuring young people
develop a healthy and responsible attitude to money”.
Compared to cash, the Visa Prepaid Citizen
Card means it also easier to check your account history, Chevis
stresses: “Young people and younger teenagers are not necessarily
aware of the value of money and what this card requires is that the
funds are loaded in the card before they spend it and you can’t go
one penny into debt,” Chevis says.
Big Brother issue
Concerns have been raised over whether the
card increases government control, making it a type of ‘Big
Brother tool’. In other words: is it a tool to control the way we
spend our money?
CitizenCard is peremptory: “We are not
directly connected to the government we are not a sort of Big
Brother organisation. We work together in the sense they know what
they are doing and we make sure what we are doing does not meet
their disapproval but we do not pass information on to anybody,
including the government.
When we were formed in 1999 we had meetings
with the government to discuss and ensure they were happy with the
idea we introduced a national ID scheme; they gave us the go ahead
saying they would support and recognise it,” Chevis says.
He adds that we live in a world there is a
need for proof of age and Visa Prepaid Citizen Card enables this to
be done conveniently
Chevis says: “I don’t think that anybody under
the age of 25 is bothered at all in the way the older generation is
about having an ID”.
Fast facts
CitizenCard is a not-for- profit operated by
the Association of Convenience Stores, Camelot, Co-operative group,
Experian, Ladbrokes, National Federation of Retail Newsagents
(NFRN) and the Tobacco Manufacturers Association (TMA).
Being a card with chip and pin functionality,
also means it can be immediately blocked when stolen or lost, a
useful feature for school age cardholders.
The card can be loaded by a range of means
including a bank transfer, standing order or online banking.
There’s also an “earn with the card” feature,
which gives bonuses when promoting the card to friends or family
members. There are no monthly or annual card fees.
