V.me by Visa to be rolled out in UK this year
Visa Europe says that it will roll out its V.me by Visa in the UK this year, having secured commitment from 55% of the UK’s card issuance base, which accounts for more than 60 million card holders, and thousands of the UK’s retailers.
The service was initially launched by Visa with Nationwide Building Society. It will now be commercially available to the majority of internet shoppers in the UK before the end of 2015.
The new retailers committed to the service include the Arcadia Group, owners of Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Burton, Wallis, Miss Selfridge, and Evans. Commitment has also been secured from other leading online services including Iceland, bathstore and Costco.co.uk.
V.me by Visa is designed to increase the convenience of online shopping, reducing the proportion of sales that are abandoned during the checkout process, currently estimated to be over 68%. When shopping online, consumers can access their V.me service online from whichever device they prefer, including tablet and smartphone, so they can shop anywhere, anytime, without having to enter sensitive card details in public. V.me by Visa can store multiple payment cards and every purchase is secured in just a few clicks.
“A recent study by Accenture found that almost half of consumers surveyed plan to increase the number of their online purchases in the future, so we think that the V.me digital payment service is as important for the online environment as contactless is in the face-to-face environment,” said Wendy Martin, executive director, V.me by Visa. “The uptake of the service by retailers and banks across the country will further enable frictionless commerce, making online shopping – particularly checking out – easier, quicker and safer for the consumer, reducing the abandonment rate for merchants.”
