E-wallet: PNC Bank and U.S. Bank First to Propose V.me in the US

• Visa announces the availability of its digital wallet, V.me, to PNC Bank customers holding an online Virtual Wallet account. PNC is the first US bank to propose this service, starting with about 1.2 million customers and commits to opening it up to over 6.3 million accounts in 2013.

• Potential users may subscribe online through Visa’s partner websites or directly at www.v.me; they may store several cards to their wallet regardless of their network, and Visa account holders can configure alerts to track their transactions.

• The mobile wallet has already been adopted by 23 e-commerce websites, including 1-800-flowers.com and Buy.com, and U.S. Bank is also in process of making it available to its customers.

• Partner websites display a dedicated button on their payment pages. To purchase goods online, subscribers only have to key in their V.me IDs and no longer have to enter their shipping address or banking details, all stored to the wallet.

Source: Press release - 15 and 23 October 2012

• Visa also envisages in-store payWave-based mobile transactions in the near future, thanks to other banking partnerships in the US. These announcements should help their wallet exceed “simple” online use, but do not obliterate its actual lateness and the restricted number of accepting stores.

• V.me is seeking banking support however it also has to face competition from their already in place offers (like its rivals do) and has to cope with pressuring non-banking new entrants.

• V.me is to be tested in Europe as of this fall, with commercial launches planned in the UK, France and Spain by summer 2013. Also, BBVA will be the first Spanish bank to test Visa’s wallet starting this November and plans to launch it by 2013.