Visa introduces new feature for faster mobile commerce

visa cardVisa Inc. has unveiled a digital “swipe” product enhancement for Visa Checkout to make mobile payment as effortless as possible for the shopper.

The new digital swipe feature allows shoppers to complete their online purchase by sliding a virtual image of their credit, debit or prepaid card across the screen of a smartphone, tablet or laptop.

During the transaction, an image of the card will appear on the screen of the device with a Visa Checkout button. The consumer needs to swipe the image and put the password or pin code in the button to authenticate the transaction.

The interactive button is now available globally to merchants selling digital goods and services – such as music, movies, airline seats, and tickets – or items that customers purchase online and pick up in a physical store. Visa will extend the interactive button functionality to Visa Checkout merchants who ship goods in the coming months.

“This new experience brings digital payments one step closer to the ease, trust and familiarity that consumers have long valued from Visa in the physical world,” said Visa’s senior vice president for digital solutions, Sam Shrauger.

Visa conducted a pilot run of the digital swipe feature before launching it for commercial use and found that customers who enrolled with Visa Checkout and used the interactive button were twice as likely to “click-through” and complete their transaction.

A recent Visa survey of Australian consumers found that two-thirds or 66 per cent of respondents reported using their mobile device at some point during their last purchase, whether while browsing or buying. The survey also indicated the majority of Australians, 61 per cent, have also stopped an online transaction because filling in information like billing and shipping details during checkout was too much hassle.

“This design-led innovation is proven to increase conversion, helping merchants reach new customers,” said Shrauger.

Visa introduced the Visa Checkout Lightbox in 2014, a service that enables online transaction from within the mobile app. The company mentioned there are more than 11 million consumers accounts connected to Visa Checkout.

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