Visa is taking a bold step into the mobile payments field
Visa is currently involved in a numerous mobile commerce platforms, but the company is interested in launching its own and establishing a yet stronger position in the mobile payments field. Visa has announced its new Checkout platform, which is very similar to other platforms that allow consumers to pay for products using nothing more than their mobile devices. The platform is meant to be familiar in order to avoid some of the problems that mobile users have when adopting a new mobile commerce platform.
Checkout will allow people to purchase products digitally using a mobile device
Those interested in using Checkout will have to register with Visa. After creating a username and password, they will have to link their Visa debit or credit card to their Checkout account. The financial information of these cards will be accessed when a person goes to make a mobile payment when are shopping. The platform will allow people to make mobile payments without having to leave a mobile website or shopping application.
Visa signs several financial institutions to support Checkout platform
Visa has been demonstrating the influence it holds over the commerce field and has already signed more than 180 financial institutions to support Checkout. Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citi Bank are among the institutions that will accommodate the new Checkout platform. These organizations have expressed an interest in the mobile commerce field for some time.
Visa may be able to compete with other organizations in the mobile commerce field that have more experience
The Checkout platform is currently available to consumers in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Several vendors are already supporting the platform, with more to come later in the year. A software development kit is available for developers that are interested in integrating the platform in some way or fashioning auxiliary services based on the platform itself. Checkout will have to compete with other, more well established mobile commerce platforms, but considering Visa’s clout in the commerce field, this may not be a problem for the new platform.