Visa rebrands V.me to Visa Checkout

It was just only six months ago that Visa launched its digital wallet service V.me by Visa in Australia, and now the company is replacing it with Visa Checkout.

Just like V.me, Visa Checkout is a single checkout platform that requires users to sign in with a single username and password to complete a payment process from a PC, mobile device, or within a mobile app without leaving the merchant's website.

Visa, MasterCard, and American Express cards from all banks in Australia, as well as preferred shipping details can be uploaded to Visa Checkout

Greg Storey, head of Visa Checkout for Visa in Asia Pacific, Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa, told ZDNet while V.me was a "tremendous success", the company wanted to further reduce the complexity of online payments for both consumers and merchants, and believes the name change is going to help the company "a great deal" in helping explain what the solution is about.

"What we've done is what you can call an evolution, but more importantly with Visa Checkout we're focused on choosing, improving, and making the absolute best experience we can possibly give to the consumer. So the first point is creating a frictionless, simple, easy, intuitive experience for the consumer," he said.

"We have taken away anything that distracts the consumer. The consumer should be comfortable to stay on the merchant's website, and they should be doing their transactions on the merchant's website without feeling like they have be taken away to some other experience whether it's their bank or elsewhere to do a transaction. They should be able to complete a transaction there and then and make sure it's fast and easy to do. We've evolved the experience because the customer needs this intuitive experience.

"The second thing was something that all merchants who sell products over the web or through mobile can easily integrate to. We have created a more streamline experience and reduced the complexity for the merchants so they can integrate with Visa Checkout within days, and make themselves a Visa Checkout acceptance merchant."

While it's similar to PayPal and MasterCard's MasterPass mobile wallet service, Storey argued that Visa Checkout keeps the customer at the merchant's website.

"We find other alternatives take the consumer away from the merchant's website where more windows are open and take you to where you don't really want to be. So we're about making it simple for the consumer."

Visa's The Future of Payments — Everywhere Commerce report showed over half of young people aged between 18-29 years find entering shipping, billing, and account details at the checkout a deterrent to ordering online.

"As people around the world spend more time and money online, particularly using mobile devices, they are demanding a fast, secure and frictionless way to shop using the payments cards they already know and trust," said Charlie Scharf, chief executive officer, Visa Inc.

"Through insights provided by our cardholders, financial institutions and merchant partners, we designed an online payment experience that continues to deliver on this promise, bringing us closer to the simplicity and speed of Visa payWave in the face to face environment."

Event Cinemas is the first merchant in Australia to offer Visa Checkout, with more e-commerce and mobile sites scheduled to follow soon.

"The fastest growing way in which our customers buy tickets is on their mobile. Our customers pick their movie, session time, their seats and even candy bar treats on our mobile website and the Event Cinemas App. Completing their transaction with us quickly, in a trusted and hassle free way is critical to our business," said Kristie Atkins, director of sales, Amalgamated Holdings Limited.

"As the first merchant in Australia to offer Visa Checkout this is just one more way we are ensuring customers have a great experience with us 24 hours a day, seven days a week, no matter where they are."

Meanwhile, existing merchants live with V.me, including CatchOfTheDay, Cotton On, Escape Travel, Flight Centre, City Beach, JB Hi-Fi Home, DealsDirect.com.au, OO.com.au, Skiddoo, Lorna Jane and Bonds will rebrand to Visa Checkout in the coming months. Australian account holders who are currently signed up to V.me by Visa will automatically be moved over to Visa Checkout, and will be able to continue to sign in with their same username and password.