Visa has launched a new feature for tap payment cards in South Africa. Called Tap to Add Card, it allows cardholders to add Visa contactless cards to digital wallets with a tap on their mobile device.

“Tap to Add Card eliminates the cumbersome process of manual entry, a common source of errors and a vulnerability exploited by fraudsters seeking to compromise sensitive card information,” Visa said in a statement on Tuesday about the launch of the new feature in the local market.

“The tap generates a unique, one-time code validated by Visa’s Chip Authenticate service, ensuring secure provisioning of card credentials and offering a significantly faster and more secure alternative to traditional methods,” it said.

Tap-to-pay solutions have become popular in South Africa. They took off during the Covid pandemic, when consumers were worried about contracting the coronavirus from point-of-sale terminals. The convenience factor has kept many of them using the technology ever since.

Visa South Africa head Lineshree Moodley said Tap to Add Card will help drive further adoption of digital wallets in South Africa by “addressing key security concerns and simplifying the user experience”.

“The Tap to Add Card feature has quickly gained traction worldwide since its introduction last September by Visa… It is designed to benefit all stakeholders in the payments ecosystem. Offering an experience similar to in-store payments, cardholders can enjoy a faster, more convenient and more secure way to add cards to their digital wallets, encouraging greater adoption of digital payments,” Visa said in its statement.

Risk reduction

“For issuers (typically banks), Tap to Add Card can help reduce the risk and associated costs of provisioning fraud, simplify the add-to-wallet process leading to fewer customer service inquiries, and improve transaction approval rates.

Read: Criminals exploiting smartphone tap to pay in South Africa

“For digital wallets, Tap to Add Card follows Visa security standards, reducing the risk of card compromise and promising a potentially higher token provisioning rate due to fewer card entry errors, while also presenting the opportunity to introduce new customer experiences.” — © 2025 NewsCentral Media

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