Visa to Start Replacing Credit Cards w/ Cloud
The market for cloud-based mobile payment solutions is still well within its infancy. Visa, one of the world’s leaders in credit card issuance, has begun implementing a cloud payment suite that some analysts believe will replace credit card numbers all together. How does it all work, you ask?
Instead of receiving a plastic card, your credit card will reside in an app on your mobile device. To pay for purchases at retail outlets, you’d simply swipe, tap or wave your mobile device over a Visa payWave enabled point of service machine and your transaction is done. Those who use Visa Cloud Payment Solutions will notice that their app in no way displays their 16 digit account numbers. Instead, the service works using digital token that resides on the mobile device itself. Analysts mention that Visa wants to pioneer this technology on wearable devices. Imagine not having to pull out your mobile device to pay for your groceries; In Visa’s world, you could pay for your groceries with your smart watch.
Visa’s intentions to replace credit cards was reported several months ago. In the latest bit of news released from the Visa camp, it seems as if Visa has posted a tentative rollout date of early 2015 for this technology. In a previous press release, Visa mentioned that they were experimenting with Host Card Emulation in order to facilitate mobile payments using the Visa payWave technology on some mobile devices. Visa Cloud Payment Solutions is also being referred to as Visa Digital Solutions by some credit card industry insiders.
The technology is packed with intuitive features. Since your device will not display a 16 digit account number, your device can be stolen and you can be issued a replacement token on a new device instantly. In the past, credit card consumers would have to wait up to 2 weeks in some circumstances to get a replacement credit card in the mail.
