Johannesburg — NET1 UEPS is expanding its secured electronic payment system with the launch of a virtual payment service that will assist cellphone users in the US to make transactions via their cell phones.

Net1 provides its universal electronic payment system, or UEPS, as an alternative payment system for unbanked and underbanked people in developing countries.

It also runs the EasyPay system, which enables people to pay bills such as municipal rates and telephone accounts online.

Net1 , which is listed on the Nasdaq and the JSE, said on Friday that its subsidiary, Net1 Virtual Credit Card, had launched VCpayTrade Mark, a cellphone-based prepaid virtual payment card platform, in partnership with US cellphone wireless provider Plano.

VCpayTrade Mark allows subscribers to generate a unique, one-time use, prepaid virtual card number to securely purchase goods and services or pay bills.

Net1 says the VCpayTrade Mark application is the first cell phone- based prepaid system with no requirement for the user to have a physical card or a bank account.

Serge Belamant, Net1's chairman and CEO, said the move would mark Net1's entry into the US, from where it could launch this product worldwide. "The simplicity of our v irtual card is only matched by the strength of the security and functionality it provides, and the fact that it operates offline, ensuring that the customer experience will always be of the highest standard," he said.