Visa’s new payment innovation to hit local shores before Christmas.

Visa today announced plans to launch its new digital wallet service, V.me by Visa, in Australia later this year, making it easier for consumers to shop online.

V.me will offer consumers a simple and secure way to pay online by entering a single username and password, eliminating the hassle of entering personal details across multiple merchant websites.

Vipin Kalra, Visa’s Country Manager for Australia, said “Building on the successful launch of V.me in the US, Visa is now set to deliver this new service to Australian consumers in time for Christmas 2013.

“Consumers are increasingly shopping online where they are faced with a cumbersome checkout process, and need to enter personal account information repeatedly when making a purchase. V.me streamlines the process and addresses the growing consumer desire to shop online from any device with ease and simplicity.

“V.me will take the friction out of online payments, benefiting both the consumer and the merchant.”

Visa’s new digital wallet service allows consumers to:
• Securely store their existing Visa and other payment cards
• Store and use multiple shipping addresses
• Set transaction alerts for Visa cards based on spending thresholds and other criteria
• And, over time, opt-in to additional features.

V.me can be accessed via PC, smartphone or tablet, with personal account information protected by layers of security within Visa’s industry-leading network. There will be no fees for consumers to enrol or make purchases using V.me.

Greg Storey, Visa’s Head of V.me for Asia Pacific, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa, said V.me will change the way consumers shop online, and it can benefit merchants by streamlining the checkout process and reducing abandonment of online shopping carts.

“We intend to offer V.me to all Australian eCommerce merchants. We’re excited about improving the eCommerce checkout experience and helping to boost the sales of Australian merchants who are investing in improvements to their eCommerce sales channel.

“The initial reaction we have had from merchants has been fantastic. We have a number on board already, including JB Hi-Fi, Cotton On, City Beach and Lorna Jane, who will participate in V.me to provide their online customers with a convenient and secure way to pay,” he said.

More than 40 financial institutions have also agreed to partner with Visa to offer V.me to their customers, including ANZ, National Australia Bank, Westpac, Suncorp, Citigroup and ING Direct.

According to ANZ, digital and mobile technology is central to banking.

“Digital and mobile banking technology has become central to banking, as more and more people embrace the digital age. These changing customer behaviours are shaping our banking channels and the way in which we interact with our customers,” said Marj Demmer, ANZ General Manager, Cards and Payments. “Visa’s new digital wallet service aligns with our digital focus and we’re pleased to be partnering with them on the launch of V.me which will provide our customers with a new, easy and secure online shopping solution,” she said.

David Lindberg, Chief Product Officer, Australian Financial Services, Westpac, said “Helping to make the customers shopping experience easier is really important to us. Westpac is excited to be able to offer our customers a more convenient way to pay using their mobile phone or online.”

Mr. Storey added, “It is our long-standing relationships with financial institutions and merchants that put us in a strong position to deliver a great digital wallet experience for the online shopper”.

V.me is the latest in the evolution of payment technology solutions from Visa, whose vision is to become the best way to pay and be paid for everyone, everywhere.

For more information, visit www.visa.com.au.