Visa Europe introduces Visa payWave - bringing contactless payments to Europe

ROME, 26 April 2007

Visa Europe has unveiled the name for its contactless technology at the Visa Europe member bank meeting in Rome today. "Visa payWave" was unveiled as the new name to describe Visa's contactless technology. Contactless payment refers to a payment that does not require a payment device such as a card or a mobile device to be physically swiped or inserted into a point-of-sale device.

Visa conducted extensive, global consumer research to determine the best way of describing its contactless feature. Visa payWave was identified as the perfect name: "wave" best describes the action at the point-of-sale, while "pay" reinforces the function of the card or payment device.

Commented Joe Clift, senior vice president Brand Management, Visa Europe:
"Visa payWave was chosen for its brilliant simplicity. The name illustrates to the consumer all they need to know about using contactless cards or other devices. With the roll-out of contactless payments gaining pace in Europe the time is right to introduce the new name."

Contactless payments are particularly suited to retail environments such as fast food outlets, restaurants and coffee shops, newsagents, off licences, bars, pubs, parking facilities and vending machines, all of which tend to have a high cash turnover and where rapid checkout times are desirable.

Research undertaken by Visa Europe when developing contactless technology has indicated that consumers are likely to appreciate the convenience and speed that it offers as an alternative to cash.

"In order to make a purchase with a Visa payWave-enabled card, a consumer simply needs to wave the card in close proximity to a point-of-sale terminal allowing radio-frequency (RF) technology to send payment information to the terminal. Every other aspect of the transaction is handled in the same way as a traditional payment," concluded Joe Clift.

Visa Europe is working with UK banks to implement contactless technology in London by October 2007 and with member banks across Europe.

- ends -

Notes to editors

About Visa Europe:
In Europe, there are nearly 321 million Visa debit, credit and commercial cards. In the 12 months ending September 2006, those cards were used to make purchases and cash withdrawals to the value of over €1.2 trillion. For every €9 spent in Europe today, €1 is spent on a Visa card.

Visa Europe is a membership association - an organisation owned and operated by its 4,500 European member banks. As a dedicated European organisation it is able to respond quickly to the specific market needs of European banks and their customers - cardholders and retailers, and to meet the European Commission's objective to create a true internal market for payments. Visa Europe is a part owner of Visa International, the organisation that ensures global interoperability of products as well as management of the Visa brand.

In October 2006, Visa announced that it intends to restructure its entire worldwide organisation except Europe in order to create a new public global corporation called Visa Inc. As a part of this restructuring, Visa Europe will remain a membership association with an exclusive, irrevocable and perpetual license in Europe.

Globally Visa is one of the world's leading payment brands and has unsurpassed acceptance at approximately 24 million acceptance locations including one million ATMs.

Contact details:

Visa Europe press office
Tel: +44 (0)20 7795 5463
E-mail: europeanmedia@visa.com