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Visa has recently hosted an innovation briefing in New York, during which the company showcased advances in electronic payments that are creating a future of 'better money' that is expected to be more convenient, more reliable and more secure than cash or cheques.
The company was joined by a number of innovators including Google, Intel, Nokia and Singapore Post, each of which are currently helping to expand the benefits of electronic financial services for consumers in new and emerging markets.
The Visa-powered innovations discussed and demonstrated at the briefing recognise several overall trends in the payments industry, including the convergence of electronic payments and mobile phones; the expansion of electronic payments into new acceptance locations including transit and vending machines; and the importance of extending electronic payments to the millions of unbanked and underbanked consumers around the world.
The event was highlighted by four major announcements of innovative advances in electronic payments and services:
- Visa Applications for Android
Visa announced it is developing a suite of mobile applications for the Android platform, which will be available for download on Android-powered handsets and initially available to Chase Visa cardholders. The services will allow Visa cardholders to receive notifications to their mobile devices about transaction activity on their accounts; obtain offers from a wide array of merchants; and use the built-in location-based technology developed by Google to quickly map nearby merchants where they can redeem Visa offers and locate ATMs that accept Visa. In addition, Visa is also developing a payment application that will enable consumers with Visa accounts to make mobile payments in retail locations nationwide, or while on the go, over wireless networks.
- Visa and Nokia Collaborating on Next Generation Handset
Visa and Nokia, the world's largest mobile handset manufacturer, announced plans today to deliver Visa payment and related services for Nokia's next generation Near Field Communications (NFC) handsets beginning with the 6212 Classic, which is expected to be available in October 2009. The Visa applications will first be made available for trial use by interested financial institutions. Trials will allow consumers with the 6212 and a relationship with a participating Visa issuing bank to use their handsets for a variety of payment and related services, including remote payments, money transfer, and alerts and notifications.
- Launch of US Mobile Money Transfer Pilot
Visa and US Bancorp today announced the launch of a mobile money transfer pilot programme to allow participating Visa cardholders to use their mobile phones and PDAs to securely send funds directly to another Visa cardholder. The first phase of the programme, which is expected to launch by the end of this year, will enable domestic money transfers within the U.S. and will involve key Visa issuers, led by U.S. Bank and as many as 6,000 Visa account holders.
- Expansion of Visa's Prepaid Services
Visa also announced the expansion of Visa ReadyLink, its prepaid reload service, to enable the reload of eligible Visa prepaid products at ATMs across the U.S. Visa ReadyLink gives consumers a secure and convenient way to purchase and add funds to Visa reloadable prepaid cards, a significant advantage to financially underserved consumers - those without a traditional banking relationship or access to a payment card. Visa estimates there are more than 80 million financially underserved consumers in the US.
Demonstrations included a variety of transactions using Visa payWave contactless payment system, including paying a fare at a transit turnstile, buying products in vending machines, and completing a purchase quickly at point-of-sale terminals. Using the new Nokia 6212 NFC-enabled handset, Visa demonstrated mobile payment services such as mobile offers, alerts and money transfers.
Source: Visa Inc.
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