Alliance seeks to transform mobile phones into Visa mobile payment devices
BARCELONA, Spain, Feb 15, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), the world's largest retail electronic payments
network1, and DeviceFidelity Inc. today announced plans to
market an innovative solution that can enable a mobile phone with a
memory card slot to be used as a Visa mobile payment device.
The solution combines Visa's contactless payment technology, Visa
payWave, and DeviceFidelity's In2PayTM technology to
transform a mobile phone with a microSD memory slot into a mobile
contactless payment device. This can enable consumers to make mobile
Visa payWave transactions at any retail location that accepts
contactless payments. Trials are scheduled to begin in the second
quarter of 2010.
This collaboration aligns with Visa's mobile strategy to extend the
reach of its global network to bring mobile payments and related
services to consumers around the globe. With more than 4 billion mobile
devices in market today, Visa, in partnership with financial
institutions, mobile network operators and handset manufacturers, is
working to deliver the benefits of mobile financial services to
consumers worldwide.
"Visa's goal is to develop innovative ways to bring the value of Visa
digital currency to mobile users around the globe," said Dave Wentker,
Head of Mobile Contactless Payments at Visa Inc. "Through our
collaboration with DeviceFidelity, Visa is helping to accelerate the
adoption of mobile contactless payments and pave the way for the global
deployment of NFC-enabled devices."
Visa's global transactions processing network, VisaNet, and its
contactless payment technology play a critical role in securely
processing transactions initiated with the In2Pay solution, providing
real-time fraud monitoring and encryption technology that work in
concert to prevent counterfeit fraud and ensure that mobile initiated
Visa transactions are as secure as all Visa payments.
"We're committed to helping the industry unlock the true promise of the
mobile phone and deliver a new wirelessly connected payment offering
that is faster, more secure, and more convenient than traditional forms
of electronic payment," said Deepak Jain, CEO of DeviceFidelity. "We are
excited to be working with Visa, the leading brand in payments, to make
mobile payments a reality in countries around the globe."
The In2Pay solution conforms to the industry standard for memory chips,
microSD, and fits into the memory card slot found in many existing
mobile devices in market today.
In2Pay integrates seamlessly with multiple mobile phone operating
systems, enabling a flexible application interface and interactivity
with the consumer. In2Pay uses an onboard software controlled antenna
and an industry standard dual interface contactless smart card chip that
supports Visa payWave, as well as other contactless applications popular
with consumers such as transit, identification and access control.
In addition to DeviceFidelity, Visa is also working with key technology
providers and strategic alliance partners to test and deploy this
innovative mobile contactless payment technology, including CPI Card
Group, Inside Contactless, Monitise plc, and NXP Semiconductors.
1 Based on payments volume, total volume, number of
transactions and total number of cards in circulation.
About Visa
Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers,
businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200
countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency.
Underpinning digital currency is one of the world's most advanced
processing networks--VisaNet--that is capable of handling more than 10,000
transactions a second, with fraud protection for consumers and
guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank, and does not issue
cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's
innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to
offer consumers more choices: Pay now with debit, ahead of time with
prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.
About DeviceFidelity, Inc.
DeviceFidelity, Inc. develops plug-and-play technologies that empower a
variety of institutions to deploy their services and applications on
existing and upcoming mobile phones worldwide. Committed to bringing
contactless innovation to the mobile phone, the company has numerous
patents pending in both U.S. and international patent offices.
DeviceFidelity is a private corporation with headquarters in Richardson,
Texas and offices in Foster City, California. For more information, go
to www.devicefidelity.com.
SOURCE: Visa Inc.
For more information, press only:
Visa Inc.
Elvira Swanson, 650-504-4537
[email protected]