Visa, the largest payment network in the United States, will provide certain online banking features to users of mobile phones using Internet search giant Google's Android operating  system and certain phones from mobile manufacturer Nokia beginning this year, the San Francisco, California-based company announced Thursday. Initially Visa planned to offer services tied to Google's online mapping products that would give users of certain Google and Nokia mobile phones updates on financial transactions, special localized coupons, and ATM locations, followed later by full payment via cell phone options, according to Visa. Widely Used In Japan, Mobile Banking Could Enter U.S. Via Google Phone The capability to pay for goods and services using nothing but a cell phone has been gaining in popularity in countries such as Japan over the past several years, and the steps announced by Visa Thursday sought to begin bringing the technology to the United States, although the payment company noted that implementation of a full fledged mobile payment system was still a ways off. Before U.S. mobile users are able to pay for transactions as many consumers now do in Japan, by simply waving brandishing their cell phone at vendors equipped with special wireless readers, Visa said that it would first offer instant notification of account transactions and various opt-in merchant programs. "By developing these mobile services for the Android platform, Visa has taken a major step toward achieving our goal of combining two of the world’s most powerful and ubiquitous consumer innovations, electronic payments and mobile technology," said Visa global head of product Elizabeth Buse, in a statement released Thursday. "Through this effort, U.S. consumers will, for the first time, be able to download Visa mobile service applications directly to their handsets. Visa cardholders have come to expect more from their Visa account than just convenience and security of payment, and wireless customers expect their mobile devices to carry a multitude of applications. Extending Visa payments and services to the mobile device is a natural extension, and makes the consumer payment experience more convenient, more secure and more rewarding," Buse added Thursday. A $4 Trillion Market Could Be Expanded With Mobile Buying Systems Visa said that Google's Android mobile operating system was central to its efforts to bring mobile payment services to U.S. consumers, who make up the majority of the company's 1.6 billion Visa card carriers who combined had, as of the end of March, spent almost $4 trillion using the its services. Next month Nokia plans to begin selling a phone, the 6212, that will also be able to use the  new Visa mobile banking services. Until January Visa planned to offer the new mobile banking services only to those Android-based mobile device users who hold Visa cards from JP Morgan Chase banks. Elizabeth Buse, global head of product at Visa Inc. expressed excitement at the prospect of helping advance the state of mobile banking in the U.S. with the programs announced Thursday. "We’re pleased to extend the value of Visa to the mobile channel," Buse said. "With more than 3 billion mobile devices already in market today, we have an opportunity deliver the convenience and security of Visa to consumers around the globe," she added. Visa Banking On Google Android Mobile Phone Tie In Plan Visa has not yet announce any partners in the mobile merchant marketing program, which will allow consumers to receive coupons and other promotional offers by using their cell phone. "This has the potential to change the advertising model in the U.S.," said Tim Attinger, Visa's head of product innovation and development, during a press conference held surrounding the Visa announcement. Business promotions would allow consumers to claim discounts and other special offers by showing their cell phone screens at various businesses. Visa said that its initial applications would make use of Google Maps and other location-based services, which would allow the Android-based phones to "use the built-in location-based technology developed by Google to quickly map nearby merchants where they can redeem Visa offers and locate ATMs that accept Visa," Visa said. Beginning next year Visa said that it would expand the mobile banking services to other financial institutions that issue credit cards The announcement came two days after the first Google Android-based mobile phone was announced by Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA, the G1 model, expected to be released on October 22, although without the hardware needed to support wireless credit card payments. Related Links :
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8:38 pm on Sep. 26, 2008 (utc 0)