Visa introduces digital commerce app to grow mobile capabilities of financial institutions

Visa has signed up more than 40 financial institutions to its new issuer-branded digital commerce app, which lets firms offer their customers a host of card management services. Through the app, issuers can offer services such as real-time account balance information, card controls, alerts that inform accountholders about recent transactions or fraud concerns, and token services for contactless payments security.

Visa Inc. introduced the Visa Digital Commerce App, an issuer-branded mobile commerce solution that enables financial institutions to offer their own mobile app to customers with valuable card management services – ultimately expanding and strengthening their Visa credit, debit and prepaid card offerings.

Through the mobile app, issuers can offer services such as real-time account balance information, card controls, alerts that inform accountholders about recent transactions or fraud concerns, and innovative token services that bring greater security to contactless payments ( NFC-enabled Android OS Smartphones). „As a hosted service, the app simplifies the delivery of a broad array of card management features and provides a roadmap for issuers to rapidly deploy new features and enhancements.”, according to the press release.

“The Visa Digital Commerce App brings together a comprehensive set of services to empower financial institution clients of all sizes to quickly offer their own digital payment experience to cardholders, while keeping their brand and relationship with the cardholder front and center,” said Oliver Jenkyn, group executive, North America, Visa Inc. “We are getting great feedback from clients who are implementing the app and are excited to make it available to more financial institutions nationwide.”

“As consumer awareness of mobile wallets has grown, financial institutions are increasingly looking to stake a claim in this market and capture the preferred ‘top-of-wallet’ position with their customers,” said Daniel Van Dyke, analyst, Javelin Strategy & Research. “In our 2016 report, ‘What’s In Your Mobile Wallet?’, consumers stated they would be 51 percent more likely to use a wallet offered by their primary financial institution, making this an ideal time for banks and credit unions to introduce a branded digital app and capitalize on this preference.”

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Today more than 40 U.S. financial institutions are implementing the Visa Digital Commerce App. In addition to making the Visa Digital Commerce App directly available to financial institutions, Visa is also offering the app to its processor and go-to-market channel partners for their financial institution customers.

“Partnering with Visa to enhance our digital payments capabilities has been a no-brainer,” said John Weeks, senior vice president of payments, Webster Bank. “It is simply the latest example of our shared commitment to provide Webster customers with the technology that allows them to manage and use their payment cards whenever and wherever they prefer. This new solution reduces friction during a transaction without sacrificing security – something our customers want and need.”

“By using the Visa Digital Commerce App, we are able to quickly deliver a robust and highly intuitive mobile app to our members that allows them to manage and use their cards on their terms,” said John Fenton, president and CEO, Affinity Federal Credit Union. “This new solution, which we are calling the Affinity Card App, meets the needs of today’s consumers – making it faster, easier and more convenient to bank with us. We are already experiencing higher usage rates from our members who transact in our digital space.”

„When we initially launched SmartAccess, our prepaid reloadable product, we faced a ’build-or-buy’ decision for a mobile app,” said Zulfiqar Khan, senior vice president, group product manager, Checking and Prepaid, PNC Bank. “Partnering with Visa allowed us to rapidly deploy a very compelling stand-alone solution for our prepaid customers. The new app from Visa will allow us to continue to meet the needs of our customers in this continually shifting environment”.