Visa V.me digital wallet supported by 'majority' of UK traders this year
V.me by Visa was initially launched by Visa with Nationwide Building Society in 2013. The service will now be commercially available to the majority of internet shoppers in the UK before the end of 2015, said Visa.
New retailers committed to the service include the Arcadia Group, owners of Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Burton, Wallis, Miss Selfridge and Evans; and Iceland, bathstore and Costco.
V.me is designed to increase the convenience of online shopping, reducing the proportion of sales that are abandoned during the checkout process, currently estimated to be over 68 percent, Visa said.
V.me allows card holders to securely save all their debit, credit and pre-paid card details - from all issuers - online. It saves time and effort when shopping online, said Visa, because instead of manually entering card details when at the checkout, users simply log into their digital wallet with their email address and password. And, like using PayPal, paying with V.me shields the user's full card details from the website they're making a payment to.
Wendy Martin, executive director for V.me by Visa, said: "A recent study by Accenture found that almost half of consumers plan to increase the number of their online purchases in the future, so we think that the V.me digital payment service is as important for the online environment as contactless is in the face-to-face environment.
"The uptake of the service by retailers and banks across the country will further enable frictionless commerce, making online shopping - particularly checking out - easier, quicker and safer for the consumer, reducing the abandonment rate for merchants."
When shopping online consumers can access their V.me service from whichever device they prefer, including tablets and smartphones.
Last week, Visa Europe announced an 'innovation hub' to support creation of new payment technologies with an international community and partner network for fintech startups.