World's First Virtual Credit Card Launched By Airtel

Bharti Airtel today launched the World’s first Virtual Card. This Virtual Card launched by Airtel Africa in association with Standard Chartered Bank and MasterCard. This will operates off a wallet residing on a mobile phone. This new innovative payment method is called as Airtel 1time Shopping card. You can think about this as a Virtual credit card of OTP system that you have seen with online banking.

In this Virtual credit card system, you can generate a single use credit card with specified amount of money and which is valid only for 2-3 days. After that, the card expires. Every time an airtel customer will shop online, need to request on-the-fly a virtual shopping card. Then Airtel will generate a special 16 digit number that enables the completion of transaction. customer will get an confirmation SMS on his mobile when complete the transaction. The regulatory framework provided by Standard Chartered Bank and the global acceptance of MasterCard will ensure a reliable, convenient and secure environment. 


Mr. Manoj Kohli, airtel CEO (International) and Joint Managing Director, said “Today’s launch of the world’s first virtual number on a mobile card marks a big milestone in mobile commerce. The airtel 1time Shopping Card is proof that airtel will deliver innovative and relevant mobile solutions that will help consumers overcome the daily challenges in their lives. The solution will offer consumers a robust e-commerce solution that delivers security, accessibility, acceptance, ability and a global reach. Subsequent phases of the program will allow airtel subscribers to make payment across the MasterCard network.”


Bharti Airtel is one of leading global telecommunications company and has operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa