Absa partners with Mr Price in e-commerce deal

Absa's partnership with Mr Price will see the bank develop a world-class early fraud detection capability for Mr Price's recently introduced online shop that matches the best in the market. The fraud mitigation service would assist in combating online fraud to ensure that customers' card accounts are not compromised.

Significant progress as key player

Arrie Rautenbach, head of retail markets at Absa attributes the acquisition of the landmark deal to significant progress the bank has made as a key player in the growing e-commerce industry. He said Absa had been the preferred card acquiring partner of Mr Price since 1996 while the bank has seen significant year-on-year payment acceptance value growth through its e-commerce platform of 142%.

"Online banking is one of the most successful stories to emerge from the advent of e-commerce. It provides unprecedented flexibility for consumers. However, for e-commerce to realise its full potential, consumers must have confidence in the security of online transactions," says Rautenbach.

Continued investment in e-commerce

Absa Bank has maintained its position as a market leader in the payments segment, taking contactless and mobile payment solutions to new heights by being the first to market low-value payments contactless prepaid cards. The bank is also first in the South African market to pilot a one touch product, a near field communication enabled mobile phone which, serves as a payment device.

Furthermore, the bank continues to invest in its e-commerce capability with a number of innovative payment functionalities, such as one time password that enables Absa cardholders with the ability to use a mobile based one time password for identification when using their bank card for purchases over the Internet.

"Our alliance with Mr Price is a definite move forward showcasing Absa's contribution towards the evolution of the e-commerce industry with a security platform that places convenience at centre stage," concludes Rautenbach.