We're quickly moving towards a world where most people will no longer need to carry around their credit cards. Soon, most transactions will be fully electronic, faster, and more secure. Visa announced a major step forward towards these ends today, unveiling its plans to roll out its digital wallet in the U.S. and Canada this fall. Is Visa leading the way here or playing catch up?
Visa's plans here include a few different components. First, Visa hopes to provide safer, more convenient commerce. Essentially, its digital wallet will store credit card information (whether Visa and non-Visa). This digital wallet can be used to pay for purchases online or person-to-person using a smartphone. Here are some of the key features from the press release:
- Click-to-buy: This would allow more secure shopping where a credit card number and billing address need not be provided -- just a username and password, leveraging dynamic authentication technology
- Cross-channel payments solution: The wallet consolidates various forms of payment and forms of commerce to simplify commerce
- Preference management: Functionality allowing consumers to customize features and privacy settings based on type of purchase or merchant
- Merchant offers: The ability for merchants to provide discounts or promotions to customers
