Visa seeks to “revolutionise the card” with array of new product launches
Visa has unveiled a string of new digital product developments at the annual Visa Payments Forum in San Francisco, US, in an effort to “revolutionise the card”.
Visa debuts string of new digital product launches
The announcements include the launch of Visa Flexible Credential, which enables users to toggle between debit, credit, rewards points, and buy now, pay later (BNPL) when completing a transaction.
Currently live in Asia, the capability is due to launch in the US “later this summer” through BNPL fintech Affirm.
Given that its tap-to-pay penetration reached 65% globally last year, Visa is also introducing a new Tap to Everything service which will enable NFC-enabled mobile devices to accept payments, transfer funds and securely confirm identities when tapped with another device.
Passkeys, payments and Visa Protect
The topic of security appears to be a renewed point of focus for Visa at this time, as evidenced by the arrival of its Payments Passkey Service. The service authorises online payments specifically through biometric technology and is to be integrated with Visa’s Click to Pay service and throughout all newly issued cards.
Meanwhile, while Visa has steadily expanded its Pay by Bank service across Europe since its €1.8 billion takeover of Swedish open banking platform Tink in 2021, the latest developments will see the capability expanded to consumers in the US, with Visa claiming to be “digitising and streamlining the account-to-account (A2A) payments experience”.
On this, Visa states that Visa Protect – a component of its value-added services which leverages AI to mitigate fraud – will be applied to A2A payments in collaboration with Real-Time Payments (RTP) networks. The service is live in Latin America and is currently being piloted in the UK.
Visa data tokens
One of the last notable developments to come to light during the forum was the advent of Visa data tokens. Leveraging Visa’s tokenisation infrastructure, and a network of partner banks, the AI-powered tokens will afford consumers greater control over how their data is used by merchants and financial institutions seeking to provide personalised experiences, with options for the consumer to withdraw their content if desired.
“Visa data tokens let consumers, whose financial institution participates in the programme, consent to sharing their data as they shop online, then see where it’s been shared and revoke access right from their banking app,” its statement at launch reads.
Jack Forestell, chief product and strategy officer for Visa, says that collectively, the developments mark “the next generation of truly digital-native card experiences”, which he claims will bring “consumers into a more customised, convenient and secure future”.
Visa concludes that its new products will be rolled out “later this year”.
