Mobile Payment Magazine

Visa Certifies Samsung, LG and Blackberry Smartphones as Visa payWave Mobile Payment Devices

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Visa payWave

Visa Inc. and Visa Europe today announced that NFC-enabled smartphones from Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Research In Motion (RIM) have been certified for use with Visa’s mobile application for payments at the point-of-sale, Visa payWave.

The Samsung Galaxy SII, LG Optimus NET NFC, BlackBerry  Bold  9900, BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry  Curve 9360 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 have been added to the list of Visa compliant payment products available for commercial deployment by financial institutions.

All the new devices certified by Visa host the Visa payWave application on a secure SIM card and feature NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, the short range communications standard that enables mobile phones to securely transmit payment information to a contactless payment terminal.

“This is an important step for Visa, its financial institution partners and the mobile industry,” said Bill Gajda, Global Head of Mobile Product, Visa Inc. “In addition to issuing plastic magnetic stripe or chip-enabled payment cards, financial institutions can now consider offering their account-holders a way to transform their smartphones into fully functional mobile payment devices.”

Visa’s certification of these smartphones paves the way for mobile device manufacturers, mobile operators and retailers to partner with financial institutions to offer Visa mobile payment functionality to consumers globally.

Visa’s Certification Process

Visa has played a leadership role in establishing global standards for mobile payments, making sure that they are aligned with existing technology and security standards for chip payment cards and can easily be integrated into the existing payments ecosystem. For example: Visa payWave on mobile devices is compatible with existing contactless (NFC) payment terminals already installed at retail outlets worldwide, enabling Visa accountholders to simply wave their enabled phone in front of a payment terminal in order to pay.

Visa has a compliance testing process for both mobile devices and the secure elements that host the Visa payWave mobile application. The process includes extensive technical and usability testing with respect to the Visa mobile payment functionality. This helps to ensure reliable and secure Visa transactions which are compatible with the global standard for chip-enabled payments, and establishes a required signal range for all mobile (NFC-enabled) Visa payment devices. Visa’s compliance testing process helps to ensure the combination of the phone; secure chip and Visa’s mobile payment application will provide the level of security and user experience Visa accountholders have come to expect from Visa.

“Today’s announcement is another example of the momentum we are seeing behind NFC as an industry standard for mobile payments,” said Nick Holland, senior analyst Yankee Group. “Yankee Group predicts that the value of NFC-based transactions will grow significantly, from $27 million in 2010 to $40 billion in 2014.”

Source: Business Wire

Visa Europe Launches Mobile Person-to-Person Payments

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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.