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Visa Launches New Mobile Payment Services
Platform Enables New Development
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA (September 3, 2008) Visa (NYSE:V) has launched four new programs to deliver payments and services via mobile devices. This includes two commercial mobile payments programs in Brazil and Korea, along with two mobile offers and transaction notification pilots in the United States. These are in addition to more than a dozen pilot and commercial programs around the world.
Visa's investment in its mobile platform comes as more consumers in both developed and emerging markets adopt mobile devices. According to the GSM Association, there are nearly 3.5 billion such devices in the world with the greatest growth coming from developing countries. Visa said that as these numbers have increased and the devices grow smarter there is greater opportunity to deliver new services around payment.
"Today we again see how far Visa and our partners have come in the development of mobile financial services," said Elizabeth Buse, Global Head of Product at Visa Inc. "As the payments ecosystem has expanded, so has Visa's opportunity to deliver innovative products and services to a diverse set of stakeholders."
The Visa mobile platform was created to help financial institutions, telecommunications providers and handset manufacturers to use technology to deliver mobile payments and related services to enhance the consumer payments. The latest programs include:
-- Brazil: Visa announced the availability of remote mobile payments in Brazil by Banco do Brasil. It is the first program of its kind in Latin America, allowing Banco do Brasil's Visa cardholders to pay with their mobile device and confirm the transaction via text message.
-- Korea: In partnership with T-Money provider KSCC (Korea Smart Card Company), card issuer Shinhan Bank and Korea Telecom Freetel (KTF), Visa has made it possible for commuters to use their Visa account to top up their T-Money balances automatically on the phone's SIM card when it falls below a certain level. By conducting the entire transaction automatically over the mobile network, commuters are freed from the inconvenience of waiting in line at transit kiosks or other agents to top up their transit account.
-- US: Visa recently announced a partnership with Chase Bank for a pilot program to deliver personalized mobile offers to select consumers in Phoenix, AZ. With more than 50 participating merchants, the program has capacity for 5,000 participants who will receive offers, including discounts or special deals, directly to their mobile devices via text message.
-- North America: Visa is working with multiple leading issuers, such as PNC Bank, SunTrust Bank, U.S. Bank, Wachovia, and Wells Fargo in the United States, and RBC, TD Bank Financial Group, and Vancity in Canada, to trial a transactions notification program that is able to send near real-time information to cardholders. Participating cardholders will receive e-mail or SMS text messages on their mobile devices whenever one or more transaction "triggers" occur, sometimes before they leave the store. These mobile notifications will be created simultaneously with the transaction, providing cardholders with an effective way to monitor and manage their accounts.
These mobile payment initiatives join a series of existing pilots in several countries and territories, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Korea, Malaysia, Spain, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. In June 2007, in the United States, Wells Fargo Bank and Visa announced the launch of a three-phase mobile pilot that tests mobile payment and offers on phones equipped with NFC. The initiative also includes mobile coupons and account management services.
Source: Visa Inc. (www.visa.com)
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