Viewpoints

Visa’s Blog – Visa Viewpoints

PERSPECTIVES ON DIGITAL CURRENCY

Feb 25, 2013

NFC

Postcards from #MWC13: Visa’s Bill Gajda Talks NFC

Kicking off Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona today, Visa’s Head of Global Mobile Products Bill Gajda (@billgajda) particpated on a panel entitled ”Building the Ecosystem for NFC Services”.  Visa will be providing updates through the weeklong event, which is expected to draw 80,000+ attendees from around the world.

Alsong with  executives from Turkcell, ISIS and the GSMA, Gadja discussed the current state of NFC, as NFC services are continuing to be rolled-out by mobile operators, payment providers and handset manufacturers across the world.

In other NFC-related news, Visa also annouced a global partnership with Samsung, embedding Visa’s NFC software in a range of Samsung mobile devices and tablets. 

For more information on Visa’s news and activities at Mobile World Congress, follow us @VisaNews on Twitter and check out our Mobile World Congress Media Kit, which is updated with the latest news, blog posts, videos, fact sheets and photos.

READ MORE

Posted by: Lucas Mast, Visa Corporate Relations on February 25, 2013 at 3:13 pm

Category: Mobile, Partnerships
Keywords: , , , , , , ,
0 Comments
facebook Add This

Aug 13, 2012

Postcards from London: U.S. Chip Cards Excel In Trials Around the City

Just in time to travel to the London 2012 Olympic Games, my new Visa EMV chip corporate credit card arrived in the mail.  This type of card was new to me,  so I put it to the test in London, where this technology is more commonplace.  One place I tested it out was Upper Playground, a cool store in London’s Soho neighborhood that features the work of local artists.

 

 

Making purchases was quick and simple. The main difference was that instead of swiping my card, I inserted it in the terminal.  Then I simply signed for my purchase, just as I normally would in the U.S.

Other American travelers at the Olympics this year are likely to have been carrying their new chip cards with them, too.  That’s because last year, Visa announced plans to accelerate the migration to chip technology in the U.S.  Since that time, U.S. financial institutions have reported issuing an estimated 1.5 million chip cards as of June 30, 2012, and we are continuing to see positive momentum as the industry moves toward more broad-based adoption of this technology.

Why is chip coming to the U.S. now?  EMV contact and contactless technology will help lay the foundation for NFC-based mobile payments, which we expect to take-off in the coming years.  Chip also provides an added layer of security to transactions and enhanced acceptance for Americans traveling abroad.

Being at the center of innovation is nothing new for Visa.  Bringing chip to the U.S. is another way that we are paving the way forward.

READ MORE

Posted by: Lucas Mast, Visa Corporate Relations on August 13, 2012 at 11:45 am

Category: Cross Border, London 2012, Products & Services, Security, Technology & Innovation
Keywords: , , , , , , , , , , ,
0 Comments
facebook Add This

Jul 20, 2012

Industry Insights: Nick Holland, Yankee Group–Part 2

Just a few days ago, we posted a video of Nick Holland, Senior Analyst at Yankee Group, discussing consumers’ perceptions of mobile payments and services. In this installment, we bring you the second part of our talk with Nick, giving us his perspective on the future of Near Field Communications (NFC) within the payments industry. Nick believes NFC will become the ‘standard’ in the near future. In his role, Nick focuses on the development of technologies enabling mobile transactions in both online and physical domains. For more information about Visa’s mobile strategy and products click here.

READ MORE

Posted by: Erika White, Visa Corporate Relations on July 20, 2012 at 7:08 am

Category: Mobile, Technology & Innovation, Uncategorized
Keywords: , , , , , ,
0 Comments
facebook Add This

Jul 5, 2012

Millennials Believe in a Cashless Future

Let’s take a moment to envision the future – flying cars, hover boards, cars that run on oxygen instead of petrol. Impossible? Maybe not but with new technology and creative minds, the impossible keeps becoming possible everyday.

In fact, even today, many often think that a totally cashless world is impossible. But when we spoke to 18 to 28 year olds in a recent survey – the Visa Connecting with the Millennials study – a large majority of them believe the future will be a cashless one.

With online shopping, mobile banking and virtual games already at our fingertips, it’s not difficult to envision a near future where payments can be made at a click, wave or tap with nary a paper bill or coin in sight. Be it for shopping or bill payments, eight in 10 Millennials believe that they will one day be able to do this all online.

Millennials today are already leading a digital life, with sixty three percent of respondents saying that they currently make online transactions on their personal computers or laptops, and nineteen percent on their mobile phones.

The continued convergence of web, mobile and social networks is revolutionizing the way people shop and pay. With Visa payWave now on more NFC-enabled mobile phones, and a burgeoning infrastructure in place to support the development and acceptance of NFC mobile payments, it seems the stars are aligning – confirming the very real possibility of a cashless future.

Take a look at the video below and hear for yourself what these Millennials from India, South Africa and Singapore think about financial management, payments and life in general here:

For the full report on Visa’s Connecting with the Milliennials study and additional details on the study, please visit: www.visa-asia.com/millennials.

READ MORE

Posted by: Jag Mistry, Corporate Relations, Visa Inc. on July 5, 2012 at 9:45 am

Category: APCEMEA, Surveys, Studies & Research
Keywords: , , , , , , , ,
1 Comments
facebook Add This

Jun 26, 2012

Mobile Money Gets Another Boost As Monitise Closes Clairmail Acquisition

Congratulations to our strategic partner Monitise for successfully closing its acquisition of Clairmail today. The deal combines two of the leading providers of mobile banking services for financial institutions, a move that has the potential to accelerate the growth of mobile money services globally.

Monitise and Visa have a long standing partnership – in fact, Visa Inc. is currently the leading shareholder in Monitise with a 12.4% equity ownership stake. Our alliance with Monitise has helped Visa to develop a comprehensive suite of mobile financial services that are already deployed by financial institutions in key geographies like the U.S and India, and are enabling Visa issuers to “mobilize” existing Visa card accounts.

The news of Monitise’s acquisition of Clairmail couldn’t have come at a better time. The majority of adults in countries like the U.S., Canada and the UK own smartphones capable of serving up sophisticated mobile banking and payment applications. In the U.S. alone, 25 percent of smartphone users say they mostly access the Internet and online services, like banking using their phone instead of a computer. Most importantly, consumers want these applications to come from a trusted entity. In a recent consumer survey by KMPG, 56 percent of consumers said they trust their financial institution or the major payment networks to handle their mobile commerce financial data.

Monitise and Clairmail have long provided mobile banking solutions to the world’s leading financial institutions. Together these companies help enable mobile banking for a third of the top 50 North American financial institutions (including 8 of the top 13) and serve 13 million registered mobile banking users across four continents. That’s impressive especially if you consider the slow uptake of mobile NFC-payments and the rising debate over when mobile payments will be widely available.

The combined Monitise-Clairmail expertise will benefit Visa clients around the world. In the U.S., Monitise and Visa have already developed a suite of mobile services that allow Visa issuers in North America to offer their account holders the ability to monitor account history and balances, transfer funds between accounts, and receive near real time transaction alerts on their mobile devices. In India, Visa and Monitise have formed a joint venture, Movida, a mobile payment service that enables mobile subscribers in India to pay bills, top up prepaid airtime and buy tickets from their mobile phone.

As mobile, internet and social networks continue converging, Visa and our client financial institutions will continue to look for ways to make mobile payments more seamless and secure, while enabling consumers to shop and pay wherever they are, with their mobile device of choice.

READ MORE

Posted by: Bill Gajda, Head of Global Mobile Product on June 26, 2012 at 7:48 am

Category: M & A, Mobile
Keywords: , , , , , , , , ,
1 Comments
facebook Add This

Jun 21, 2012

Visa at Mobile Asia Expo

All eyes are on Shanghai this week as they host the Mobile Asia Expo, where Visa is showcasing the latest in mobile payments technology. The conference marks a milestone for the GSMA in hosting a tradeshow of this scale in China, where more than 200 mobile technology companies are participating alongside Visa and the organizers expect more than 20,000 attendees by the end of the three day event.

Visa understands consumers everywhere have a distinctive relationship with their mobile device where it has become an extension of themselves whether they’re at work or at play – and they’re looking for a more interactive relationship with that device. It’s not difficult to envision a future where payments can be made with a wave or tap of the mobile phone; one where shoppers would be able to purchase items at their favorite store on-the-go with their mobile phones.

On day one of the conference, I spoke alongside senior executives from mobile technology firms about the current state of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. NFC is increasingly being adopted by payment networks, banks, merchants, mobile device manufacturers and mobile network operators as the global standard for mobile payments, and has enormous potential for both consumers and businesses.

Visa is commercially ready to support mobile operators and financial institutions with the roll-out of NFC-based payment systems. We have moved the technology from pilot to commercial readiness and are optimistic that consumers will embrace NFC-enabled mobile payments this year.  A complex ecosystem is required to enable contactless payments, and Visa is working closely with merchants, acquirers, issuers and mass transit operators to increase acceptance of NFC payments at the point-of-sale.

At our booth in the Shanghai New International Expo Centre Hall N2, H10, Visa is showcasing the latest mobile payments technology, including demonstrations of Visa Mobile Contactless, Visa Mobile Prepaid, as well as Visa Person-to-Person Transfers.

Follow our live updates (in Mandarin) on Sina Weibo at http://e.weibo.com/visachina.

READ MORE

Posted by: Niki Manby, Head of Emerging Products, Asia Pacific, Central Europe, Middle East & Africa, Visa on June 21, 2012 at 11:06 am

Category: Mobile, Technology & Innovation
Keywords: , , , , , , , , , , ,
0 Comments
facebook Add This

Jan 13, 2012

As U.S. Chip Adoption Advances, Visa Provides Guidance

We’ve received a lot of positive feedback since Visa announced a roadmap for the U.S. adoption of EMV chip cards and NFC-enabled mobile payment devices. There’s growing consensus in the industry that it makes a lot of sense to encourage investments in chip technology. That’s because it adds a layer of safety to transactions, through the use of dynamic authentication, as well as enhances international card acceptance. And it helps to build an acceptance infrastructure to support mobile payments.

READ MORE

Posted by: Stephanie Ericksen, Head of Authentication Product Integration, Visa Inc. on January 13, 2012 at 9:00 am

Category: Security, Technology & Innovation
Keywords: , , ,
facebook Add This

Aug 9, 2011

Visa Announces Plan to Drive Chip Card and Mobile Payment Adoption

I’ve often been asked if the United States will ever adopt EMV chip technology as many other countries have. My response has been, it’s not a question of “whether” the United States will begin to use chip technology but “when” and “how.”

At Visa, we have believed for some time that markets need to move toward dynamic authentication in order to carry payments into the future. As chip technology has been adopted  around the world, debate has raged over whether the required investments are justified for the U.S. as well.

READ MORE

Posted by: Ellen Richey, Chief Enterprise Risk Officer on August 9, 2011 at 5:50 am

Category: Products & Services, Security, Technology & Innovation, Uncategorized
Keywords: , , , ,
facebook Add This

May 26, 2011

More on Mobile

Another busy news day for mobile payments, as Google made an announcement regarding NFC payments. It is certainly news that Google is getting in the game by testing a new payment service…something that we’ve been doing around the world for the past couple of years.   But I’d remind you that launching NFC payments in the US this year was just one small aspect of our recent announcement regarding Visa’s plan to provide a global, comprehensive solution enabling consumers to transact wherever, whenever by using a card, a computer or a mobile device which kicks off later this year.

For our part, Visa is fully embracing the spirit of competition, and we are pleased to see the industry’s growing excitement and investment in the mobile space. I’m confident Visa will continue to lead the way in this important category and we have significant momentum on our side.

The key to our strategy is an open, global approach.

What does that mean? Our mobile solution in the United States  is designed to be used on any mobile network, with any NFC-enabled smart phone, with any financial institution and on any payment product (credit, debit, prepaid). Bottom line:  We are committed to providing consumers with choice by allowing them to make mobile payments with whatever mobile device they choose using the trusted accounts they already have.

Contrast our approach with our competitors’ plans and the fundamental differences become apparent.  

But if you want to just talk about NFC payments, we believe we are ahead of the competition.  Over the past two years, Visa has made tremendous progress:

  • Visa is already working with four of the largest banks in the United States — Bank of America, Chase, US Bank and Wells Fargo — to make NFC-based mobile payments a reality today. 
  • Visa’s mobile program is operable today at approximately 300,000 locations worldwide, anywhere Visa payWave is accepted. To see our solution in action, take a look at this video, which shows a program with the New York City subway. But you could just as easily be paying for a taxi ride in Manhattan, or walking into the major fast food restaurant across the street.
  • Visa is not content to just enable NFC payment. We are already working with leading financial institutions and merchants to launch a next generation digital wallet in the U.S. and Canada in Fall 2011,  which will make the payment experience easier and more convenient.
  • From the outset, we’ve been relentlessly focused on a globally interoperable solution. We recognize that people travel and pay for goods and services in countries outside their own. That’s why the Visa mobile payment functionality on my phone works just as easily and dependably in Malaysia as it does across the street here in San Francisco.
  • Lastly, while NFC is a critical aspect of our mobile strategy, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. That’s why we’re ensuring our strategy addresses eCommerce, mCommerce, social networking commerce and person-to-person payment environments around the world.

But remember, while NFC payments are important, consumers want a solution that enables them to transact from their home and office, as well as in the store.  Without question, the stakes are high. Mobile technology will transform how people pay for goods and services in the future. I’m confident Visa has the right approach, the best technology and strong momentum to grow this critical segment of our business.

READ MORE

Posted by: Jim McCarthy, Head of Global Product, Visa Inc. on May 26, 2011 at 10:48 am

Category: Mobile, Technology & Innovation
Keywords: , , ,
facebook Add This