Visa Europe’s new digital wallet service will launch this autumn, the company announced today.
The service, V.me by Visa, will launch initially to a group of consumers in the UK, Spain, and France. WorldPay is advising Visa on how best to meet retailers’ needs for the UK launch of the service, which will be made available to shoppers through Visa’s member banks. At first the digital wallet will be accessed through the internet browser on a PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone and consumers will be able to put a number of cards into it.
The launch comes at at a time when ecommerce represents 22% of Visa Europe’s transactions. Such transactions grew by 44% between 2009 and 2011. Visa says the V.me wallet will help retailers make their customer checkouts more streamlined and drive up conversion rates and shopper satisfaction.
Mariano Dima, executive vice president of product and marketing solutions at Visa Europe, said: “V.me sits at the heart of Visa’s future of payments. For the first time, consumers and retailers will have a streamlined online checkout experience through an acceptance mark that offers industry-leading security and, when a Visa card is used in a V.me wallet, the same protection and rights that come with any Visa card transaction.
“Our intention is that V.me will ultimately be able to incorporate any or all of our new payment technologies, allowing our members to deliver the best possible payments experience whether face-to-face, online or in a mobile environment. This comprehensive service suite, delivered under the V.me umbrella, will offer an easy way to benefit from the scale, security and reliability of Visa.”
WorldPay is providing “commercial and propositional insights” to ensure that V.me is designed with a focus on meeting retailer needs and expectations.
Phillip McGriskin, chief product officer at WorldPay, said: “Shoppers are driving the demand for more convenient, secure and safe ways to pay online.
“V.me is being developed specifically to address those needs. WorldPay has partnered with Visa Europe to ensure the proposition matches merchant requirements and is an attractive and practical digital wallet solution in what is fast becoming a crowded marketplace.”
