Well folks, I thought I would stop by and drop some good news on the Scotiabank Linx Visa Debit cards, that were rolling out from last year Oct/November.
You may have remembered my article a few months back breaking down what a Visa Debit card was and that upon launch we could have used it for online shopping and then it was blocked. It was blocked because the cards were able to access forex and be used for international shopping.
Now, they have finally configured the cards to no longer access Forex but the cards can now be used for online shopping in Trinidad & Tobago. This will help us tremendously as businesses are now being forced to implement digital solutions and take their businesses online.
The 3 keys to e-commerce in its simplest form are these factors:
- Customers with a Credit Card to make online payments
- Payment Processors (F.A.C, Wipay, Paypal, Buzzpay)
- E-commerce ready websites or the ability to send digital invoices).
Now that Scotiabank has turned on local e-commerce, we can reasonably look forward to when the other banks finally switch their existing mag stripe Linx cards to Linx Visa Debit cards, local e-commerce should already be turned on.
Why is this important?
The Linx Visa Debit cards will replace your existing bank cards and give you the added functionality of using the cards to make purchases online to any website or platform that will accept credit cards within Trinidad & Tobago.
Currently, with my business Droid Island, the most used payment option is the online bank transfer or bank deposit. That still requires quite a few steps to do and manual verification to see if the money was actually transferred.
When a client uses their credit card or visa debit card, the entire process is now streamlined. They can place the order right on my website, the money is debited from their own bank account and using their own money tied to their personal/business accounts.
In all the countries abroad, e-commerce thrives because every citizen with a bank account can use their bank cards to pay for goods/services online without hassle.
This will greatly reduce the need for people to line up and make payments in person. Yes, we know not everybody will use their bank cards to pay for things online but it goes a long way in reducing those numbers.
It is so much easier for people to punch in their bank card to pay for things, then having to log into the bank platform, add a business as a payee, then go to another screen and make the actual payment, screenshot the payment, email/WhatsApp the confirmation page and then have the business manually verify all of the info. It’s a lot to ask and some people still manage to delay or screw this process up. It also takes away impulse buying.
I just tried this for myself, the block for local e-commerce has been lifted and I have verified with Scotiabank as well that YES, you can now use their Linx Visa Debit Cards online for local T&T e-commerce.
**Update May 29/2020**
FCB is now rolling out its Linx Visa Debit Cards. I walked into my branch yesterday and upgraded my cards.
The card is currently blocked from performing even Local Ecommerce transactions but that is supposed to change very soon and I will keep you posted on when it does.
The card also has contactless technology built-in, so that is another good thing to look forward to.
It’s almost as if you manifested this Keron! I only looked at your webinar this morning where you spoke about the payment processors and uses for different cards. Thank you for the update.
Great stuff happen ing this will help my business out so much an benefit my clients
Hello. . ..do you know if Scotia new visa debit cards can now be linked to paypal to receive funds? If so, what’s the process to do so? Also, does rbc debit cards link to PayPal
Hey Donna,
None of the Linx Visa debit cards from any bank can be linked to Paypal. You can, however, link your Visa debit card from JMMB, as they are not apart of the Linx network. You can also connect your Payoneer account to receive funds from Paypal and have it direct deposited into any bank in T&T.
Wow this was a question I wanted to ask you and you are already on the draw with the blog post. I wanted to know the process of debit cards when setting up an ecommerce dropshipping website. I very beginner in this, and want to learn everything about it to see if this is a viable avenue for me. So thank you for this blog , it’s been a tremendous help.
Stay safe
Hi would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re
using? I’m going to start my own blog soon but I’m having a hard time
making a decision between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
The reason I ask is because your layout seems different then most blogs and I’m looking
for something unique. P.S Apologies for getting off-topic but I had to ask!
WordPress
Keron, thanks for this. It is wonderful news.
Very, very helpful. Thank you!
Hello, I have a question about the FCB Card: Did you walk in and request the card or did FCB contact you about the card? If you walked in, which branch did you go to for the upgraded card? Thanks. Your blog has been very informative.
I walked in and grabbed it.