With a goal to help teenagers and the youth become financially smart at an early age as well as provide them banking solutions, India-based fintech company Walrus announced the launch of Signature Prepaid Cards for teenagers on October 20, 2020. The exclusive card permits users to customize their signature which gets printed on the card afterward.
Following this announcement, Walrus became India’s first neobank to introduce this innovative feature in a card. A neobank is a digital-only bank that operates exclusively online without traditional physical branch networks.
The card is a Prepaid Card, issued by the RBL Bank and powered by Mastercard and can be used at any retail store in the user’s neighborhood and for making online purchases at websites like Flipkart, Amazon, etc. With these personalized cards, the users will be able to monitor their transactions and also temporarily lock their cards from the Walrus app when not in use or block it if it gets misplaced. The Signature card has also been enabled with features like Swipe-to-Pay to ensure quick and secure transactions.
About Walrus
Founded in 2019 by Bhagaban Behera (CEO), Sriharsha Setty (CTO), and Nakul Kelkar (COO), Walrus is a modern digital-only banking platform for teenagers. It was created to deliver banking facilities to teenagers and make them financially independent. The team comprises individuals with a joint experience of 40 years in leadership roles at various startups and MNCs. Walrus recently secured funding from Better Capital and renowned angel investors like Raveen Sastry (Cofounder, Myntra), Raghunandan G (Former CEO, TaxiForSure).
Nowadays, teenagers use a lot of cash which has a lot of hassles and is also unsafe due to COVID-19. With the rise in digital payments, Walrus is bridging the gap by including teenagers in a financial inclusion drive. They can add money to their Walrus card effortlessly and use it at the places of their choice. Moreover, the neobank has also given them the power to customize their cards in terms of designing it in consort with adding their signatures, thus giving them ownership of the same.
For the Signature Card, Walrus has joined forces with fintech company Zeta, a full-stack cloud-based neo-banking platform and IDEMIA, the global leader in augmented identity. Walrus is amongst the first few Asian neobanks to be part of IDEMIA’s Fintech Accelerator Program.
Walrus has also introduced gamified features to help teenagers get smarter with money by integrating concepts like budgeting, creating savings goals, etc. Walrus users also get entrée to the ‘Club Walrus’ which is a network of teenagers enabling them to interact amongst themselves and to explore thought-provoking topics like entrepreneurship, product building and digital marketing from industry experts.
Remarking on the launch, Bhagaban Behera, Co-Founder, and CEO of Walrus said, “We believe that every teenager is unique and has unique aspirations, and therefore it’s important to give them a card which they can personalize to their identity. Walrus Signature Card is an effort from Walrus to make Gen-Z smart with money in a cool way.”
Murali Nair, President, Banking at Zeta said, “The banking and fintech sector has been a major focus for Zeta and we are privileged to power Walrus’ innovative cards for teens with innovative features like Super PIN, Card Controls and Swipe-to-Pay. As a company, Zeta is constantly innovating and introducing new products to simplify and secure digital payments across platforms. This association with Walrus is a great opportunity for Zeta to help create a versatile platform to enable neo banking more accessible for Gen-Z customers.”
Amit Kakatikar, Region Head – Payment Business at IDEMIA said, “As the first signature card designed for Teenagers in India, it is a solid affirmation of Walrus’ commitment and understanding of the needs and desires of this important customer segment. IDEMIA is thrilled to be a part of this unique personalized payment card product offering. It reaffirms our strategic focus on supporting the rapidly evolving Fintechs and neo banking ecosystem through our Fintech Accelerator Program.”
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