Hellenic Bank boosts e-card range in Cyprus with Money Transfer

Hellenic Bank has boosted its range of prepaid cards ideal for electronic transfers with the launch of the “Money Transfer” card, which aims to capture a growing market of foreigners living and working in Cyprus transferring money back home.

Rena Papadopoulou, Manager Card Services at Hellenic Bank told the Financial Mirror that the new card is primarily aimed at foreigners living and working in Cyprus who regularly send money back home to their relatives.

Money Transfer is an anonymous prepaid card. Once acquired, two cards are provided free of charge, one of which is kept by the person residing in Cyprus with its own PIN and the second card (with its own PIN) is dispatched to the country of residence of the next of kin.

The person in Cyprus loads up the card from CYP 15 up to CYP 1000 at a cost of CYP 5 per load, after which the next of kin in the home country is able to withdraw the cash, either from an ATM or any VISA-member bank free of charge.

“For those withdrawing in euros, there are no handling fees, whereas for other currencies a handling fee applies,” said Papadopoulou.

Cypriot students studying abroad can also use the Money Transfer card, but they are better off using the more specialized student card, which has many other advantages, in addition to the low transfer fees.

Asked to comment how competitive the Hellenic Bank’s new card is compared to international money transfer companies that have recently opened in Cyprus, Papadopoulou did not wish to go into detail, but assured us that HB’s Money Transfer card is “very competitive”.

 

— NetSecure

 

For Internet shopping and e-transactions, Hellenic Bank has pioneered with the introduction of NetSecure, a virtual card that is secured based on an existing HB card, but is usable for only one transaction with user designated expiry date.

“It’s for secure and risk free transactions through the Internet,” said Papadopoulou, adding that NetSecure is a service provided by Hellenic Bank free of charge to its customers.

 

— “P” Card

 

For teenagers or people looking for gift ideas, Hellenic Bank has the “P” Card, which comes in three colours and is acquired without any formalities.

The card may be obtained at any HB branch at the value that the customer chooses and also for people who want to control their spending or for more sophisticated transactions on the Net.

P Card is ideal for people who don’t own a credit card (under 18 years) who may receive the cards from their parents or as a gift and use it either for shopping or at the ATM for money withdrawals. The client buys the P Card at CYP 2 per card and can load it from CYP 15 to CYP 1000 and use it for a duration of two years.

An increasing number of people are also using the P Card for transactions involving transfer of money over the Internet or to buy services. For cash withdrawals, there is a fee of CYP 1.50, plus handling fees if the transaction is not in euros.

Papadopoulou stressed that Hellenic Bank has tough monitoring and “know your customer” rules that are followed rigidly so that the bank is always in full compliance of the Central Bank rules against money laundering.