Visa Europe Adds Second Processing Partner for U.K. Digital Wallet (April 4, 2013)
Payments processor Global Payments Inc. will support Visa Europe when it launches its V.me digital wallet in the U.K. this spring. The country’s third-largest card payments processor, Global Payments joins WorldPay as processing partners for the U.K. version of the wallet, which launched a pilot with bank partner RBS late last year and is expected to fully roll out across the U.K. soon.
Visa Europe’s partnership with Global Payments expands the retail acceptance network for V.me, which is designed for online shopping via mobile device or computer. Customers only need to enter a user name and password to make purchases, for what the network calls a “streamlined online checkout experience.” The system currently does not support contactless payments, but Visa Europe said it’s planning to add contactless and P2P money transfer features to V.me this year.
With V.me, Visa Europe is hoping to capitalize on the recent boom in e-commerce. The network said online purchases increased by 44 percent between 2009 and 2011, and currently represent about 22 percent of the transactions made with its payment cards. That growth makes the digital wallet “the next step in the development of Visa’s e-commerce strategy.”
Along with its processing partners, Visa Europe also has lined up bank partnerships with RBS and Nationwide Building Society for V.me in the U.K. The wallet also is expected to launch in Spain—where BBVA already has signed on as launch partner—and France. Visa Europe expects that by 2020, one-third of its European customers will be using V.me.
