Just in time for the holiday break, UAE Exchange has tied up with MasterCard to launch the region's first six-currency prepaid travel card that protects users from exchange-rate fluctuations.
The card, called gocash, has a basket of 15 currencies to choose from, including the US dollar, Australian dollar, British pound, Thai baht, Swiss franc, Indian rupee and Saudi Arabia riyal.
Promoth Manghat, the vice president of global operations at UAE Exchange, says one of the advantages of gocash is the exchange-rate lock facility, which allows customers to peg the rate at the prevalent market price at the time of loading the card.
"This feature protects the user from exchange-rate fluctuations while on the move and gives the traveller peace of mind," he says.
"Choice of currencies, security features and worldwide acceptance add to the convenience, making gocash a unique innovation from the UAE Exchange stable."
The gocash card can be used across 34.3 million MasterCard-enabled merchant locations and 1.5 million bank ATMs around the world. It can also be used for online purchases.
"We have kick-started a revolution in world travel," says Y Sudhir Kumar Shetty, the chief operating officer of global operations at UAE Exchange.
"This new innovation is in line with our vision to bring as much convenience for our customers as possible under one roof."
For details, or to apply for a gocash card, go to www.uaeexchange.com.
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Standard Chartered has launched an Islamic version of its online banking platform Straight2Bank.
The London and Hong Kong-listed lender says the platform provides a secure online portal that is compliant with Sharia law.
Afaq Khan, the chief executive of Standard Chartered Saadiq, the bank's Islamic banking arm, says the introduction of a Sharia-compliant Straight2Bank allows the bank's Islamic clients to manage their cash and trade portfolios electronically.
Straight2Bank is available to all clients, including small-to-medium enterprises, in the UAE, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Pakistan and Malaysia.
Go to www.standardchartered.com for more information.
