MTN South Africa said on Monday that it has launched a Visa card for Mobile Money users, allowing them to pay for goods and services. They can also use the card to withdraw money from any ATM.

TechCentral reported in November last year that MTN was in talks with Visa to make available a Mobile Money card that will allow users to make face-to-face and online transactions wherever Visa is accepted.

The Mobile Money Visa card is now available from Pick n Pay and Boxer stores and, although background risk checks will be done, eligible users will have their Visa cards activated within 72 hours.

The Mobile Money Card works just like any debit card and will allow Mobile Money users more flexibility when it comes to using and accessing the funds in their mobile wallets.

MTN said on its blog that there are no monthly or annual card fees and users of its Mobile Money Visa card will get unlimited card swipes.

People who collect Pick n Pay “Smart Shopper” loyalty points will also be rewarded with double points when swiping the card at the retailer’s stores.

Since the launch of Mobile Money in South Africa in November 2012, more than 2m people have registered on the platform, with over R2,5bn worth of transactions processed.

When MTN announced last year that it was going to roll out the Visa card, it identified Ghana as its first market. An MTN spokesman could not immediately provide feedback on how many Ghanaians are using the service.

MTN’s Mobile Money registered subscriber base grew by 57,3% to 14,8m in 2013.

MTN said customers can purchase the Mobile Money Visa card from Pick n Pay and Boxer stores for a one-time fee of R29.