Tag: visa europe

Apple acquires mobile payments specialist from Visa

| October 1, 2014

Mary Carol Harris joins Apple, bringing her extensive mobile payments experience with her

Apple has made an aggressive move in the mobile payments space. The company has successfully acquired Mary Carol Harris, the former director of mobile for Visa Europe. Harris has significant experience in the mobile space, especially when it comes to payments. She also has expertise with NFC technology, which is the foundation of the new Apple Pay service. Apple’s acquisition of Harris may go a long way in improving the company’s stance in the European mobile commerce market.

Apple is working to establish a strong foothold in the European market

Apple Pay intends to change the way that people pay for goods and services, leveraging contactless technology in order to make payments more convenient for consumers. The service is already being heavily supported by a wide variety of financial institutions, including Visa itself. In the U.S., Apple Pay has been met with excitement, but this is not the case in other parts of the world. In Europe, the demand for mobile commerce services has been quite high, but consumers have become quite comfortable with the services that they are currently using, which may make it difficult for Apple Pay to stand out amongst the competition.

Harris could be pivotal to Apple’s European goals

Mobile Payments NewsMary Carol Harris has 14 years of experience in digital and mobile payments. Before joining Visa, she ran Telefonica’s NFC division. She served as Visa Europe’s vice president in charge of strategic alliances and projects in mobile thereafter. Harris has extensive experience in creating mobile payment systems and she was one of the pioneers of payments via SMS. She may serve as a powerful ally in Apple’s push into the European market.

Apple looks to partner with European financial organizations

Apple is hoping to form partnerships with European financial institutions that mirror its partnerships with organizations in the U.S. By partnering with European banks, Apple will be able to make its new mobile payments service more widely available. The Apple Pay service supports NFC technology, but only works with payments being made from an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus.

Mobile payments service to launch in Italy

| November 15, 2013

Visa Europe and Telecom Italia partner for new mobile payments venture

Telecom Italia and Visa Europe have entered into a new strategic partnership in order to boost mobile payments throughout Italy. Both companies have shown a major interest in mobile commerce and have been working to break into this field for some time. Mobile commerce, however, is quite competitive and is filled with technology, telecommunications, and financial service firms that are all trying to grab the attention of consumers. It is for this reason that strategic partnerships are becoming more common in the mobile commerce sector.

Consumers show strong interest in mobile commerce

Italian consumers have been showing a strong interest in mobile payments. This is partly due to the convenience that mobile commerce represents. Shopping and purchasing products from a mobile device has become quite common among consumers that frequently travel and this trend has not gone unnoticed by Visa Europe and Telecom Italia. Both companies have, therefore, been working to develop new mobile payments services that will be available to an estimated 31 million people across Italy.

NFC-based service may not be popular with consumers

Italy Mobile Payments PartnershipVisa Europe intends to reduce the use of physical currency at point of sale. The new service is meant to provide consumers with more security with their transactions. The service is, however, based on NFC technology, which means that only NFC-enabled mobile devices can take advantage of its features. This may be problematic, as NFC-enabled devices are still somewhat rare among European consumers. New NFC-enabled smartphones are expected to be launched in Italy in 2014, however, which may help resolve this issue.

Mobile payments expected to gain momentum from the holiday season

Mobile payments have been gaining more attention throughout Europe, especially as consumers look for more convenient ways to shop. With the holiday season fast approaching, it is expected that record numbers of people throughout Europe will be using their mobile devices to purchase products online and at physical stores.