According to the company, the new offerings are expected to include a secure cross-channel digital wallet and a range of customized mobile payment services that address the specific requirements of the different markets around the world.

“Consumers have a great deal of freedom with financial capabilities,” said Jennifer Schulz, head of global product strategy of innovation and ecommerce at Visa, Inc., Los Angeles.

“Mobile is a core component of our overall initiative,” she said. “A lot of online shopping is happening on mobile and in a smartphone environment.”

Mobile wallet
Visa is scheduled to launch its digital wallet in Fall 2011.

The digital wallet will store Visa and non-Visa payments accounts, as well as support NFC payments through the Visa payWave application.

Currently, the company is working with several payments card issuers, community banks, credit unions, acquirers, payments processors and merchants to launch the digital wallet.

Many of the key features of the digital wallet include click-to-buy functionality.

Consumers can shop conveniently and securely by entering an email address, alias or online ID and password – instead of their billing address, account number and expiration date.

Additionally, Visa is currently looking at authentication technologies that will bring added layers of security to online purchases.

Payments
There is also a cross-channel payments service feature where the digital wallet consolidates multiple Visa and non-Visa payments accounts and can be used in mobile, ecommerce, social network and retail point-of-sale environments.

The wallet also includes a menu that lets consumers set their preferences for how they want their wallet to work. The feature lets them customize and control their privacy settings to designate which account will be accessed based on merchant type or purchase amount.

Merchant offers is another feature that lets consumers personalize their shopping experience by opting-in to receive money-saving discounts or promotions from participating merchants.

Visa is also looking to mobilize payments in emerging economies.

The company will work with financial institutions and carriers to provide consumers with a secure and reliable form of payment that also lets them transfer and receive funds as well as manage financial accounts via their handset.

In countries such as Russia and India, Visa will drive account activation and usage by working with financial institutions and carriers to give mobile devices payment functionality.

In countries where mobile usage is high – such as Africa and the Middle East – Visa is linking new virtual mobile prepaid Visa accounts to mobile phone numbers to enable cash-in, cash-out, personal payments and mobile payments.

“We’re working with financial institutions to make that enrollment easy for consumers,” Ms. Schulz said. “We see NFC growing.

“The digital wallet will be linked to NFC capabilities and allow for consumers to pay at the point-of-sale,” she said.