Visa Europe has said it will invest €100 million a year into mobile and ecommerce payments and expects to see “commercial launches of mobile payments” before the end of 2011.
To place this in context, Visa Europe said in its 2010 annual results that it had invested €1 billion in total on payment technology since its creation in 2004 – an annual average of roughly €140 million. It is now commiting €100 million a year to mobile and ecommerce payments integration.
A spokesperson for the company said the €100 million is “new money”, and “will continue to be invested each year until commercialisation is fully underway”.
Speaking at Visa Insight, Visa’s partner and customer programme in Barcelona, Peter Ayliffe, Visa Europe Chief Executive, said, “We are seeing strong double digit growth in the usage of Visa cards across Europe, particularly with debit, and will continue to do so in the next few years as electronic payments displace cash. But during this time we can now expect to see the emergence of contactless, mobile and even further growth in ecommerce.
“To realise this opportunity Visa Europe will invest €100 million annually. The first results of this will be commercial launches of mobile payments before the end of 2011, closely followed by a major launch in ecommerce payments.”
Ayliffe added, “In just ten years we have moved from €1 in every €18 spent in Europe on a Visa card to €1 in €8. Today we have committed to accelerate this displacement of cash by bringing to market ways to pay that bring true convergence between electronic payments and mobile and ecommerce technology.”