Tag: visa

Visa to expand its mobile payments service to the UK

| May 7, 2015

Visa will be launching its mobile payments platform in the UK in June of this year

Visa has announced that it will be expanding its mobile payments service in Europe. Visa Europe has formed numerous partnerships with retailers and merchants in the United Kingdom, where mobile payments are beginning to gain momentum. The company has also formed partnerships with British banks in order to better compete with other mobile payment platforms that have launched in the country. Visa plans to launch its expanded service in the United Kingdom in June of this year, with 60,000 people being able to use the service at that time.

Digital wallet helps make payments more convenient

Visa’s mobile payments platform, which serves as a digital wallet, was initially launched in 2013. The platform allows users to make purchases online without having to provide their financial information more than once. One of the attractive features of the platform its use of digital tokens, which are used in place of financial information, making mobile transactions more secure. Visa suggests that its platform is more convenient than others, as it can save consumers time when making a purchase online.

Mobile spending is on the rise in the United Kingdom

UK Mobile Payments - VisaAccording to a recent report from Barclays, consumers in the United Kingdom are expected to spend more than $60 billion a year using their smartphones and tablets by 2024. Last year, British consumers spent a combined $10 billion from their mobile devices. Mobile payments are becoming a more attractive option to consumers in the UK, largely due to how convenient nature of mobile commerce and the services that are being offered by numerous companies participating in this space.

Security concerns lead to better protection for consumers

Though mobile payments are becoming more popular, there are security concerns that could slow its growth and adoption. Visa has been working to address these security concerns, using tokenization as a way to protect consumers and their financial information. Biometric technology, such as fingerprint scanners are also becoming more important in the mobile space, as this technology can be used to provide more protection to the mobile commerce space.

Mobile payments continue to thrive in the US

| March 31, 2015

Federal Reserve takes note of the growing prominence of mobile payments throughout the country

Mobile payments are catching on in the United States. According to information from the Federal Reserve, more people are using their smartphones to manages their funds than ever before. Doing so represents a convenient way to conduct commerce, as mobile devices can be used anywhere and at any time. The Federal Reserve has made note of a spike in mobile banking from 2013, with more people opting to manage their bank accounts online from a smartphone or tablet.

Smartphone users are showing favor for mobile banking and mobile commerce in general

According to the Federal Reserve, 39% of smartphone owners are actively using a mobile banking application, an increase from the 33% of consumers that did so in 2013. The agency has also made note of an increase in mobile payments in 2014. The agency’s information shows that 22% of smartphone owners made a mobile payment in 2014, up from the 17% of mobile consumers that did so in 2013. Notably, the vast majority of those that did make a mobile payment did so by using QR codes, which have become a very powerful mobile commerce tool.

Banks are seeing more mobile activity thanks to new payment services that have been launched recently

Mobile Payments Thriving in USABanks in the United States expect mobile banking and payments to gain popularity. One of the reasons more consumers are showing interest in mobile payments has to do with the launch of new services, such as Apple Pay. Most of the country’s major banks signed up to support Apple Pay when it launched in October of 2014, and many have seen an increase in mobile payments activity since then. According to Apple, $2 of every $3 spent across Visa, MasterCard, and American Express networks is being made through Apple Pay.

Better security features are making consumers more comfortable with the concept of mobile payments

Mobile payments are expected to continue gaining traction throughout the United States. Consumers are becoming less wary of mobile commerce as services become more secure and capable of protecting their financial information.