Visa Europe confirms RBS as launch partner for V.me mobile digital wallet by Visa
Visa Europe has confirmed that RBS will be the first UK financial institution to launch the V.me digital wallet by Visa, for RBS and NatWest consumers.
An initial trial for the RBS and Natwest wallet is currently underway, before a full rollout in the spring of 2013. This will make V.me available to customers of both brands.
The V.me payment experience allows consumers to complete online transactions through the internet browser on a PC, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. As a result, both consumers and retailers can benefit from the security and scale of the Visa brand.
Mariano Dima, executive vice president of product and marketing solutions at Visa Europe, said: 'We are delighted to announce RBS as the launch partner for Visa Europe's V.me digital wallet in the UK. Visa is committed to making online payments even easier and more secure, and our partners such as RBS are helping us make this vision a reality. It is our intention to make the V.me brand as trusted and well known for digital payments as the Visa brand is on the high street today.'
Dima added: 'The feedback from banks in the UK has been extremely positive and we will be announcing further V.me support from several major banks in the coming months.'
Steve Rubenstein, director of everyday banking at RBS, said: 'As a business we are very excited by this partnership with Visa and the development of V.me. We believe that a proposition which reduces the effort of buying things online, while also improving security, for our customers is exactly the sort of thing we want to deliver. V.me clearly delivers this and we look forward to offering it to our customers in 2013.'
V.me plays a key part in Visa Europe's future of payments strategy, reflecting the company's continued commitment to payments innovation and to bringing new services to market that benefit consumers, members and retailers. The service will continue to evolve post launch to incorporate other Visa payment technologies, including contactless transactions at the point of sale and person-to-person payments.
Payments processor WorldPay is a key development partner in the delivery of the V.me proposition in the UK.
BBVA was recently confirmed as the V.me launch partner in Spain. The service will also launch in France in late 2012. Further issuing banks will be confirmed for all three markets at a later date.
