V.me Set for Full Rollout in U.K. (May 7, 2015)
The U.K. rollout of Visa Europe’s V.me digital wallet is picking up steam, the payments network said, with support from banks representing more than half of the country’s 130 million cardholders and thousands of merchants. Visa Europe first launched V.me in the U.K. in late 2013, with issuer partner Nationwide Building Society. At the time, the full commercial rollout was slated for late 2014, but a statement this week from Visa Europe said the service now is scheduled for a June 2015 nationwide launch. Along with card issuers representing 55 percent of U.K. cardholders, V.me has secured new merchant partners, including Arcadia Group (owners of Topshop, Topman, Burton and Miss Selfridge), along with Bathstore and Costco’s U.K. branch.
V.me enables online and mobile shoppers to store payment and shipping information in the cloud and make purchases via computer or mobile device by entering just a username and password. The service is designed to limit shopping cart abandonment—one of the biggest challenges for online and mobile retailers.
V.me’s U.S. version—which launched in 2012—was replaced in mid-2014 by Visa Checkout, which also aims to streamline the online checkout process. V.me remains operational in the U.K. and Europe.
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