At its annual Payments Forum, Visa introduced a series of new products and services designed to modernise the payment experience for businesses, merchants, and consumers. Held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, the event highlighted advancements in digital identity and generative AI (Gen AI), emphasising the evolving landscape of commerce.
Visa’s Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Jack Forestell, remarked on the industry’s transformation driven by new technologies like Gen AI, which are reshaping shopping and financial management. He stated, “We’re announcing the next generation of truly digital-native payment card experiences, bringing consumers into a more customised, convenient, and secure future.”
Visa introduced the Visa Flexible Credential, a feature that allows users to access multiple accounts through a single card. This innovation enables consumers to toggle between payment methods, including debit, credit, Buy Now Pay Later, and rewards points. Initially launched in Asia, it will be available in the U.S. with Affirm this summer.
Expanding on the widespread use of NFC-enabled mobile devices, Visa announced several new “tap” functionalities. Tap to Pay converts any device into a point-of-sale (POS) terminal. Tap to Confirm authenticates identity for online shopping. Tap to Add Card enhances security when adding cards to wallets or apps. Tap to P2P facilitates person-to-person money transfers.
Addressing online payment fraud, which is significantly higher than in-person fraud, Visa unveiled the Visa Payment Passkey Service. Utilising biometric scans, this service replaces passwords and one-time codes with a more secure and streamlined payment process. Visa will integrate the Payment Passkey Service into its Click to Pay platform, enhancing online checkout security and simplicity. This integration aims to reduce manual entry of card details and passwords for new Visa cards globally.
To improve non-card payment experiences, Visa introduced Pay by Bank, digitising and streamlining account-to-account (A2A) payments. Following the acquisition of Tink, Visa expanded this service across Europe and is now bringing it to the U.S. Visa’s new fraud prevention service, Visa Protect for A2A Payments, leverages AI to detect fraud in real-time. Piloted in Latin America and the UK, it has already identified 60% of previously undetected fraud.
Visa’s new data tokenization service will allow consumers to control their data sharing for personalised shopping experiences. This service enables merchants to offer customised offers while providing consumers with transparency and control over their data.
Visa’s latest announcements underscore its commitment to leading the digital transformation of payments. By leveraging advanced technologies such as Gen AI and biometric authentication, Visa aims to create more secure, convenient, and personalised payment experiences. As these innovations begin to roll out later this year, they promise to reshape how consumers interact with digital commerce and manage their financial transactions.
