As internet-enabled payment solutions develop at a fast pace, what payment channel would you foresee as the most used by customers, online, mobile or contactless?
Mobile technology is accelerating the pace of change in the payments industry, helping open up new possibilities for a generation of consumers who increasingly rely on connected devices to manage their money, shop, pay and get paid. The number of Internet of Things enabled devices is expected to reach 50 billion by 2020 according to Cisco, providing a huge opportunity for secure payments to be a feature in just about any form factor. Visa announced that it is expanding its Visa Ready Program to include Internet of Things (IoT) companies, such as manufacturers of wearables, automobiles, appliances, public transportation services, clothing and almost any other connected device. Emerging IoT companies will join mobile device manufacturers, including mobile point-of-sale acceptance (mPOS) providers, mobile NFC-enabled device manufacturers and other technology partners in the Visa Ready Program. The Visa Ready Program gives companies one seamless path to integrate secure payments into their products and services. Visa Ready partners receive access to industry best practices, tools and resources, and Visa’s Digital Enablement Program (VDEP), which includes streamlined access to Visa Token Service (VTS). The Visa Token Service, an innovative security technology, allows secure mobile and digital payments anywhere there is an internet connection. The first IoT companies to join the Visa Ready Program will focus on payments for wearables and automobiles. Initial Visa Ready partners include Accenture, Coin, Giesecke & Devrient, Fit Pay, and Samsung, who will work with device manufacturers including Chronos and Pebble, to help embed secure payments in consumer devices and have those devices certified as Visa Ready.
Nowadays, merchants struggle to gain online presence for the global consumer. Do you think, against this backdrop, that in-store payments will gradually lose ground to online counterparts?
Shopping habits are governed by consumer preferences. Normally, merchants seek online presence to increase sales and provide convenience and ease to their consumers and our payment tools and options are designed to offer the same benefits. Online presence is an opportunity for merchants especially in communities where ecommerce culture is dominant but it is safe to say that consumers will continue to head to their favorite merchants to buy their needs if they have the time to do so as shopping is an experience that many of us do enjoy.
Could you explain whether or not the Cloud technology and APIs, as well as blockchain, have business potential in the payments industry and, if so, what could such technologies imply?
Visa’s open approach to innovation in payments is already accelerating the development of new applications and services, including:
a) Visa Developers: Visa will be launching a new Visa Developer Platform to allow anyone to leverage VisaNet capability to build and test new digital payment products by accessing software development tools like open Application Program Interfaces (APIs) and Software Development Kits (SDKs). APIs are driving the mobile and integrated world and developers who are working on new apps and websites are always on the lookout for these building blocks that will allow them to build fast, attract customers and scale rapidly. Having access to some of Visa’s own APIs give developers a whole different access that is focused on making payment a seamless part of any customer interaction.
b) Visa Innovation Centers: These centers will be located around the world and are designed to provide immersive experiences for clients and partners. These spaces – currently open in San Francisco, with plans to open in Singapore and Dubai and Miami in 2016 – are designed to encourage dynamic interaction and real-time experimentation, and attract the best technology talent to develop the next generation of commerce solutions.
As payments migrate to smartphones, tablets and other connected devices, VisaNet – Visa’s global network – is the ideal foundation for innovation and growth. The company’s technology investments are aimed at making commerce safer, easier and smarter, enabling new ways to pay, while providing merchants and financial institutions with deeper and more accurate insights.
Visa has been striving to involve businesses – large, medium and small – to pursue new commerce and payment models by opening the edges of its network, providing a growing ecosystem of clients, partners and developers, with fast and secure access to VisaNet.
As a global payments technology company, Visa has years of experience and investments to ensure consumers, businesses and governments in more than 200 countries can engage in commerce with ease and absolute peace-of-mind. These unique experiences enable partners to interact with Visa payment experts and explore new products and technologies that advance the payment experience in areas such as mobile, security and cloud-based payments, and contribute to the overall growth and development of SMEs.
About Tarek Elhousseiny
Tarek Elhousseiny is General Manager for Visa North and Francophone Africa in Cairo, Egypt, and joined Visa in April 2003. He is a payments industry veteran with over twenty-five years of experience. Elhousseiny is responsible for developing the Electronic Payments industry across 25 markets.
About Visa
Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories, enabling them to use electronic payments instead of cash and checks. Visa provides processing services to our financial institution clients through VisaNet.
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