Mobile Payments

An increasing number of mobile devices combine multiple applications, including voice, music, messaging and high-speed Internet access. Young consumers in particular are taking advantage of this convergence and have expressed their willingness to use a payment-enabled mobile device. Simply put, the mobile device is the most promising new form of payment in the world today.

Visa’s Vision
Advanced mobile technology enables Visa and its issuing banks to deliver both payment and payment-related services. Visa has identified three payment opportunities for the mobile environment:

  • Contactless-based (proximity) payments at a physical point of sale
  • Remote-based (Internet or SMS-based for e-commerce transactions)
  • Money transfer

Mobile devices also enable payment-related services such as the delivery of mobile coupons, account management functions, security alerts and other applications that add direct and tangible value to the payment experience and customer relationships.

Visa Mobile Platform
The Visa mobile platform is a set of mobile services and enabling technologies that allows banks and mobile operators to develop new mobile payment services for individual countries. Visa believes that value-added features, such as loyalty applications, ticketing, security alerts and account management, will create a compelling consumer experience and therefore the potential for new business opportunities for financial institutions, mobile network operators, merchants and others.

To enable innovative trials and go-to-market strategies for mobile payment services globally, Visa has been actively fostering collaboration between leading mobile and financial industry partners — including handset, SIM card, device management, mobile messaging and over-the-air vendors — to develop a mobile platform that has the flexibility to meet the business and technology needs of banks and mobile operators in a variety of countries.

Visa Mobile Activities
Visa has been working on mobile payments for many years and has rolled out mobile platform-based programs in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the United States. In 2006 and 2007, Visa announced Visa payWave contactless mobile pilots in Australia, Germany, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and the United States.

Visa has also led efforts to encourage cross-industry cooperation and standardization through leadership roles in organizations around the world such as the Mobile Payment Forum, the NFC Forum, Open Mobile Alliance, GlobalPlatform and EMVCo.

October 2007