Before I start I did like to make it clear that this post refers to the Mastercard Websurfer issued by Zenith Bank Nigeria. It has nothing to do with how Mastercard Websurfer issued by banks in other countries work as I’m not familiar with any of them.
When I first started out online, I used Graphcard issued Visa Gift Cards to make my online payments but later switched to Zenith Bank’s Mastercard Websurfer.
Priced at $20 a year, the Mastercard Websurfer is used to shop online ONLY. I was skeptical about getting the card as there were loads of rumors of online merchants who didn’t accept credit/debit card orders from Nigeria ( Can you blame them? It’s just unfortunate that the frauds amongst us have wreaked so much havoc online that the innocent ones are left to pay the consequences)
When I did finally make up my mind to purchase the card, it was because of the Cons of Graphcard.
Getting a Visa Gift Card from Graphcard can be quite frustrating to some.
First you have to open an account with their sister company, Virtual Terminal Network after which you are required to load your account with Naira via their account with the ever annoying United Bank Of Africa (UBA). After that you log on back to your VTN account and fill in the details of your deposit from your deposit slip. In about 1 hour or thereabout, if the information you filled in is correct, your account will be loaded minus VTN’s cut for the transaction.
With money in your VTN account, you move on to Graphcard, get an account with them and then proceed to load your account using funds from your VTN account. As soon as this is complete, you will be asked if you want to buy a Visa Debit card. Follow the instructions carefully and your order would be placed in line. In less than 4 hours (as it was in my case) you’ll have the number of your Visa Debit Card together with other relevant info like CVV2 code and expiry date. Graphcard charges $5 per card and their cards are NOT reloadable which is why I switched to Zenith Bank’s Mastercard Websurfer.
NOTE: This card is not attached to an address and most merchants require a billing address before they can process your order. Graphcard suggests you get a virtual address with them and they’ll link it to your card.
Their prices are as shown below
Personally, I didn’t get a virtual address. I figured out that since the Visa Gift Card was issued by their company, it would automatically be linked to their company’s address. So whenever I placed an order online with the card I simply used their address as the billing address and it worked every time 
.
The Pros Of getting Graphcard issued Visa Gift Cards are
- Minimum of $25 is what you can buy, if I remember clearly well.
- No yearly fees.
The Cons of getting Graphcard issued Visa Gift Cards are
- It’s not reloadable.
- Too many go betweens (UBA & VTN)
- Not linked to any address
If you plan on getting Zenith Bank’s Mastercard Websurfer do please note the following
- The card is for EXCLUSIVE use on the internet.
- It costs $100 minimum to open plus $20 yearly fee.
- It’s reloadable. Each reloading will cost you $5
- Activation takes 48 hours or less.
The Pros of Zenith Bank’s Mastercard Websurfer include:
- No go betweens as in the case of Graphcard, where you have to go through VTN & UBA before you finally load your Graphcard account.
- Card is linked to the address you filled in your application form.
The Cons of Zenith Bank’s Mastercard Websurfer include:
- If by any chance a transaction is refunded by a merchant, it will take 30 days from day of refund for the funds to be deposited back into your account.
- Some payment processors/merchants like World Pay, don’t accept it. Others that do accept it, might request you send them a scan of the Mastercard Websurfer and also a scan of your international passport or Driver’s license.
- The $100 opening minimum & $20 a year fee might be a bit too pricey for some.
NOTE: If possible ask the merchant if he/she accepts Nigerian Issued Mastercard Websurfer before you order. It so happens that after ordering some merchants, before initiating the verification process, will refund the money back once they see the order is coming from the dreaded Nigeria. Then they’ll ask you to verify your authenticity before they accept your payment. By then it’s too late and you’d have to wait 30 days for your card to reflect the refund. I was a victim with Hostgator.
Due to the high rate of fraud online, I’ll not posting the direct link to their registration page as it might have changed in the past months. Simply go to their Cards Division and get the registration info.
Feel free to elaborate more on this topic if you so wish by commenting below. Notify me of any changes you know of pertaining these debit cards.
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Yep, Zenith WebSurfer. I used that! However, you forgot one PROS about it.
- You could always get to your transaction history via .pdf request and also login online to see your balance.
Zenith WebSurfer is great, but Real MasterCard is better.
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I agree but then nigerians have been embarrassed in the past while using Mastercards issued by Nigerian Banks abroad. I'll stick to the Websurfer for now till I can get a Mastercard from a foreign institution.
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Awesome article! I have gradually become fan of your article and would like to suggest putting some new updates for more knowledge.
I have never heard of this card. It is so difficult for people in some countries to get credit cards.
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Thanks everyone for your comments
@ John: I've never been a huge fan of credit cards. I PREFER spending money I know I've earned and not having to worry about owing someone. Mastercard Websurfer is very much available in most countries. I suggest you google "Obtain Mastercard Websurfer In Your Country"
Best of luck with the search
Hi,
Very nice post.Master card are the great resource for online shopping.
Thanks for the sharing all the information.
hi can i use zenith bank master card web surfer to collect my earns from my google adesene account .thanks
Nope! Sorry. Zenith's Mastercard Websurfer can only be loaded locally @ any branch of Zenith so you can't use it for Google Adsense
I'm just a newbie to all this but i would love to know
I've a graphcard account and would want to get a zenith's master card web surfer ,how do i activate my graph card account using my zenith's master card web surfer and how much in all to get a zenith's master card web surfer
As far as I know, you can't activate your graphcard account using Zenith's Mastercard but then again it's been over 1 year since I transacted with Graphcard and things might have changed.
Zenith Mastercard costs $20/year and minimum of $100 initial deposit. You'll be charged $5 for subsequent deposits BUT each time you make an order online, you won't be charged extra by them. I LOVE THE CARD. SIMPLE!
dis master card is really giving me problem,am currently doing a survey program now,and i cannot withdraw d money except i have a master card and i don't know how 2 apply 4 one?
Thanks for dropping by. Check out Nigerians Get Payoneer Prepaid MasterCard Free!. Hope it helps. Take care and best of luck.
P.S: Do you mind telling me which survey program that accepts Mastercard is?
I also got a problem with my Debit Mastercard. It takes almost half the amount I loaded as fees which is unfair coz fees should be less than 20% of the total amount. And their rate from dollar to other currency are not consistent.