Visa Europe To Launch V.me Digital Wallet Across The UK

Online shopping could be about to get a lot simpler for British customers following a significant show of support for Visa’s ‘digital wallet’ offering from some of the UK’s biggest retailers.

The payment provider has announced it will be commercially launching its V.me digital wallet service nationwide having secured commitment from 55 percent of the UK’s issuance base, which accounts for more than 60 million card holders, as well as backing from thousands of large and small retailers for a widespread commercial rollout.

This includes support from Arcadia Group, which owns some of the UK’s biggest fashion retailers such as Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, and Burton, and other leading online services including Iceland, bathstore and Costco.co.uk.

Expansion

Digital wallets such as V.me allow consumers to speed up the online shopping process by storing their payment details, meaning they don’t have to enter card details every time they make a purchase. This also allows speedy shopping from a mobile device, where paying for goods using card details still represents a psychological hurdle for many consumers.

The launch will help cement the UK as one of the leading markets for digital wallets across the world, as well as mark a significant step forward in Visa’s aim to help introduce a ‘frictionless’ shopping experience.

V.me first launched in 2013 as part of a partnership with Nationwide, but has not enjoyed significant customer backing so far. However, with interest in digital wallets growing as more and more shopping is done online, a widespread launch looks to be a smart move.

“The UK is the European leader of online commerce with a valuable and diverse range of companies that conduct business online,” said Kevin Jenkins, managing director UK & Ireland at Visa Europe.

“This announcement is a further proof point of our ability to innovate, building on our market success in contactless. We’re excited to be working with our member banks and many of the UK’s leading retailers to do this and look forward to new partners coming on board.”

Recent research by payments specialists Skrill found that digital wallets have enjoyed a major surge in popularity and are now used by more than half of all UK online shoppers whenever they purchase goods online.

Overall, 54 percent of UK consumers said they often or always used digital wallets such as PayPal, Google Wallet, or Square, to shop and pay for goods online.

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