Mobile phones have increasingly become tools that consumers use for banking, payments, budgeting, and shopping. Given the rapid pace of developments in the area of mobile finance, the Federal Reserve Board began conducting annual surveys of consumers’ use of mobile financial services in 2011. This 78-page report, “Consumers and Mobile Financial Services” (March, 2015) examines trends in the adoption and use of mobile banking, payments, and shopping behavior and how the emergence of mobile financial services affects consumers’ interaction with financial institutions.
Visa Europe Launches Mobile Person-to-Person Payments
Visa Europe today announced the launch of Visa Mobile Person-to-Person payments for making payments via mobile phone.
Announced this morning by Visa Europe Chief Executive Peter Ayliffe in his keynote speech at the EFMA conference in Paris, the new services give Visa Europe’s member banks the tools to respond to growing consumer demand for fast, secure, convenient and innovative ways to make and manage payments using their mobile phones.
“The way we pay is changing, driven by the rapid uptake of new technologies and growing consumer demand for more flexible payments. Today’s announcement is the first in a series of new products and services that Visa Europe will be launching in the coming months to reflect the fundamental shift in consumer behaviour. We are already seeing early adoption of mobile payments, and in the coming months we will see the arrival of mainstream NFC technologies, advanced loyalty and e-commerce services, and ultimately, the launch of a new digital wallet,” said Ayliff.
Visa Mobile Person-to-Person payments allow registered users to transfer funds to any Visa cardholder in Europe from their mobile phone, backed by all the security and expertise of Visa Europe’s industry-leading processing systems. The app makes it easy to send money to an address book contact, to a mobile phone number, or to a specific Visa card number – whether or not the recipient is registered with the service.
At launch Visa Mobile P2P payments will be available through an English-language Android application and will support transfers in a single currency for Visa and V PAY cardholders within Europe. Support for other mobile Operating Systems, multiple currencies and payments to and within non-European countries will be added over following months.
Visa Mobile Person-to-Person Payments was developed by Visa Europe in partnership with Monitise, the first of many services that will be made available through the partnership announced in early 2011.