(Business in Cameroon) - The Cameroonian subsidiary of the Nigeria-based United Bank of Africa (UBA) copped the 2015 “Prepaid Innovative Product of the Year”. The distinction was bestowed on the Cameroonian bank at Visa’s recent Prepaid Summit Middle East 2015 held in Dubai.

“I’m happy that UBA Cameroon was rewarded for its efforts in electronic payment development. By 2016, Africa will be the continent with the most electronic payments. In this regard, Visa provides a variety of innovative mobile banking services and solutions via its partnerships with global financial institutions and mobile telephone corporations, particularly with Samsung Pay and Apple Pay,” remarked Mohamed Touhami El Ouazzani, Visa’s Managing Director for Morocco and French-speaking Africa.

UBA Cameroon copped the prize because of its innovative “Cobranded Student ID Visa Prepaid” concept which aims to provide universities and students with a multipurpose Visa card. With this prepaid Visa card, UBA Cameroon signed three partnerships with the country’s top universities: Université de Douala, Université de Yaoundé 1 and Université de Yaoundé 2.

Currently, the Université de Douala students have 50,000 cards and close to 100,000 more cards are being made for Université de Yaoundé 1 and Université de Yaoundé 2. The card can also be used for student identification as it features the holder’s name, faculty and year.