Credit card giant Visa is hinting at a major mobile commerce announcement later this month.
On Thursday, Visa informed the Wall Street Journal that it’s poised to raise the curtain on its global mobile e-commerce strategy in a matter of weeks, if not sooner.
Chief Executive Joseph Saunders first hinted at the looming announcement during an investors call with analysts after Visa reported its fiscal second-quarter results.
The news comes just days after Visa announced an investment of an undisclosed amount into mobile payments provider Square.
The Wall Street Journal similarly reported earlier this week US wireless carriers, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile USA “are scaling back a joint venture for mobile payments that they originally hoped would compete with Visa and MasterCard Inc.”
Now, the group has adopted the less ambitious goal of setting up a “mobile wallet” that can store and exchange the account information on a users’ existing Visa, MasterCard or other card, people familiar with the matter said. The carriers are scrambling to find other ways to make money from the transactions. To get as many users as possible, the carriers are now in talks with Visa and MasterCard to have them participate in the system they will embed in phones.
Saunders, however, confirmed during the earnings call that Visa is “working with different types of entities” but won’t partner with them “at the expense of our primary customers, the financial institutions.”
To read the full report from the WSJ, click here.
