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Visa Gives Its Contactless Payment Card Program a Global Push
"Thanks to this [global contactless] specification, Visa Contactless card users from the U.S. will be able to use their cards in Europe and Asia, and the reverse will be true, as well," Ericksen says. "The Visa Contactless cards issued in EMV markets will be accepted [by payment readers] in the U.S."
This introduction of RFID-enabled EMV payment cards in the United Kingdom will not be the first major rollout of such cards under the Visa brand. In Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan, 1 million Visa Wave cards have been issued since 2005. These EMV cards use RFID technology to transmit payment data and are accepted by 5,000 merchants. For example, commuters in Malaysia and Taiwan pay fares in the public transit systems with their Visa Wave cards. However, the specification the Visa Wave cards follow does not fully interoperate with the global spec Visa has just released. Consequently, payment readers that presently accept Visa Wave cards do not accept Visa Contactless cards issued in the United States. According to Ericksen, merchants in Asia will be upgrading the software in their readers in the near future, allowing them to read both Visa Wave and Visa Contactless cards.
Ericksen says Visa is working with hardware providers to certify their payment products to the new global spec. So far, it has certified a banking microprocessor card made by smart-card manufacturer Gemalto. The card can be used as a Visa contact-based EMV card, an EMV-based Visa Contactless card or a magnetic-stripe card. Gemalto says this card will be available in mass volumes to major financial institutions starting in January 2007.
Visa Europe says it will soon begin working with issuing banks to promote acceptance of the Visa Contactless EMV card by retailers throughout the United Kingdom, including fast-food outlets, coffee shops, newsstands, pubs and parking garages. Most consumers, the company says, use cash in these venues but also want fast transaction times. Visa Europe adds that more than 75 percent of cash payments made in the United Kingdom are for amounts less than £10, so the market is ripe for a non-cash alternative method that is fast and convenient. The firm also notes that its decision to work with U.K. banks to roll out the contactless cards beginning in London support its vision of a large amount of cashless commerce being transacted during the Olympic Games, to be held in that country in 2012.
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This introduction of RFID-enabled EMV payment cards in the United Kingdom will not be the first major rollout of such cards under the Visa brand. In Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan, 1 million Visa Wave cards have been issued since 2005. These EMV cards use RFID technology to transmit payment data and are accepted by 5,000 merchants. For example, commuters in Malaysia and Taiwan pay fares in the public transit systems with their Visa Wave cards. However, the specification the Visa Wave cards follow does not fully interoperate with the global spec Visa has just released. Consequently, payment readers that presently accept Visa Wave cards do not accept Visa Contactless cards issued in the United States. According to Ericksen, merchants in Asia will be upgrading the software in their readers in the near future, allowing them to read both Visa Wave and Visa Contactless cards.
Visa Europe says it will soon begin working with issuing banks to promote acceptance of the Visa Contactless EMV card by retailers throughout the United Kingdom, including fast-food outlets, coffee shops, newsstands, pubs and parking garages. Most consumers, the company says, use cash in these venues but also want fast transaction times. Visa Europe adds that more than 75 percent of cash payments made in the United Kingdom are for amounts less than £10, so the market is ripe for a non-cash alternative method that is fast and convenient. The firm also notes that its decision to work with U.K. banks to roll out the contactless cards beginning in London support its vision of a large amount of cashless commerce being transacted during the Olympic Games, to be held in that country in 2012.
