Visa’s mission is to become the best way to pay and be paid for everyone, everywhere. Our premise is simple: to deliver the security, simplicity, and personalization merchants, financial institutions and consumers demand as payments technology continues to evolve.
While there are many new players in the payments space, Visa is a trusted brand around the world for the security, reliability and convenience that come with Visa’s 50 years of experience creating one of the largest payments networks in the world – capable of processing up to 20,000 transaction messages per second. We think we do the hard part better than anyone else – and our reputation is proof of that.
V.me by Visa is our new service designed to take the friction out of commerce wherever consumers shop – online today, and soon via mobile device or at a retail store. Click a mouse, touch a mobile browser, or wave at the point of sale to access any major payment network account – V.me will deliver the simplicity and personalization promised by Internet and mobile payment technologies in ways consumers can trust.
Over the last several months, we’ve launched the V.me website, the V.me Developer Center and have internally tested the service with employees. We have now reached another milestone with the beta launch of V.me with our first online merchant as we move toward the commercialization of V.me in the United States.
In the U.S., V.me is now available in beta for consumer enrollment and online merchant checkout at Rakuten Buy.com, a leading retail marketplace with more than 18 million customers. The V.me acceptance mark is now visible on the Rakuten Buy.com login/checkout pages allowing consumers to enroll Visa and non-Visa accounts in V.me and make online payments with a simple username and password through the merchant’s website. Users can also set personalized alerts to receive near-real-time notification of transactions on enrolled Visa accounts.
While our focus is currently on the U.S., we are also working on plans for how to scale V.me in additional countries around the globe to ensure that the V.me experience meets Visa’s standards for security, convenience and reliability as it becomes more broadly available.
In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be adding more top eCommerce merchants that will accept V.me. Rakuten Buy.com is the first of a group of merchants that will trial enrollment and online capabilities for V.me as we focus on building acceptance among the top eCommerce retailers. This will ensure that consumers who sign up will be able to use V.me at their favorite places to shop.
Regardless of where a consumer signs up, their information is entered and stored on Visa’s secure servers; they can add Visa and non-Visa accounts from any issuer; and use V.me at any merchant that accepts V.me.
We’re excited about the role V.me will play to strengthen the entire commerce ecosystem, making it easier for consumers, merchants and financial institutions to do business with one another.
Posted by: Jennifer Schulz, Global Head of eCommerce on May 7, 2012 at 10:39 am
