Visa has announced plans for a digital wallet initiative designed to make mobile purchases quick and painless. The service should roll out later this year, and will only require an email (and probably a password) to make purchases, instead of having to type out your 16-digit credit card number, fill out the expiration date, and give the hidden 3-digit security code on the back.
Entering in credit card numbers for online transactions is one thing on a PC, but on a smartphone keyboard, entering in that much information is just plain tedious, especially for anyone on the go. By leveraging the company’s PayWave apps, Visa will be able to offer tap-to-buy functionality with NFC.
Visa also said that the mobile wallet initiative will be opened up to other payment providers. It’s not often that we hear announcements that have such potential for large-scale change, but Visa’s mobile wallet initiative really could revamp the way we spend money, and the way we interact with our smartphones. Other similar projects have been initiated in the past, but never made their way to fruition. Hopefully, we’ll get to see what the future may look like as soon as this year, if Visa sticks to the plan.
[via IntoMobile]