Participation in Visa Token Service Hits Major Milestone as Digital Commerce Expands

The Visa click to pay experience will help shoppers enjoy simple and secure online checkouts

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) today announced that participants in Visa Token Service (VTS) are estimated to process a combined ecommerce volume of $1 trillion*, marking a significant opportunity in its efforts to make digital payments more secure. Tokenization is a technology that replaces sensitive payment information with a unique identifier, or “token”, protecting the underlying sensitive payment information.

In 2019, despite a shortened holiday shopping season, consumer spending was up 19.7 percent from 2018, with online shoppers spending a record $9.4 billion on Cyber Monday alone¹. To that end, consumers shelled out $125.6 billion online from Nov. 1 to Dec. 19, with more than a third of that spending happening on smartphones². Beyond the meteoric rise of digital shopping, tokenization technology is also on the rise with increasing adoption among merchants and retailers.

While the high numbers can be attributed to several factors, one thing remains clear: the retail industry and consumer behavior continue to be transformed by technology. By next year, there will be 2.1 billion digital buyers worldwide, up from 1.66 billion in 2016³, and 69% of US consumers store a card-on-file or have a recurring billing set up with their most trusted retailers⁴. For those who don’t store their card, consumers can click to pay with their Visa card where they see a click to pay button⁵ and where Visa is accepted, skip guest checkout and bypass form fields and passwords with select US retailers across the web.

Click to pay with Visa

Starting January 21, active Visa Checkout merchants in the US will transition to a new, easy, smart and secure online shopping experience for card payments across web and mobile sites, mobile apps and connected devices. Consumers can leverage the click to pay experience when using their Visa card to make a purchase wherever they see a click to pay button where Visa is accepted.

“At Visa, one of our primary goals has always been to create the best customer experience possible. As digital transaction volume grows, there has never been more urgency to build increased confidence in the seamlessness and security of online shopping,” says Jack Forestell, Chief Product Officer, Visa. “This is why Visa is committed to the success of the click to pay experience and the added level of security that tokens bring to electronic payments.”

On sites displaying a click to pay button, consumers that have enabled their card will no longer have to enter a 16-digit primary account number, look up passwords or fill out long forms to make a purchase. Consumers paying with their Visa card where they see a click to pay button where Visa is accepted, will also be able to pay with confidence knowing Visa will be using advanced technology and authentication methods, including device binding and biometrics to protect transactions. The click to pay experience is also interoperable with the EMVCo tokenization specification and with the 3-D Secure specification to bring more of today’s most advanced security methods to emerging and existing digital payments channels.

Global Expansion of eCommerce

The Visa simplified online checkout experience will replace Visa Checkout in the US starting January 2020, and will continue to expand globally through the end of 2020 to additional markets.

The expansion of the Visa easy, smart and secure online checkout experience will help merchants offer a similar, seamless experience to consumers. According to The Visa Global Merchant eCommerce Study (GME Study), which was released yesterday, eCommerce leaders – and their international customers– want a similar online checkout experience. Executives from around the globe cite the most important factors in successful online sales as: quick delivery (44 percent), easy checkout (41 percent) and convenient payment methods (41 percent).

About Visa

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of digital commerce on any device, for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa, visa.com/blog and @VisaNews.

*This figure is a combination of actuals and PV estimates reported by Visa.

1 Adobe Digital Insights, 2019 Holiday Shopping Trends Report

2 Adobe Digital Insights, 2019 Holiday Shopping Trends Report

3 Statista, Number of digital buyers worldwide from 2014 to 2021

4 Settled Tran Amt, Total Tran Count, Count of Distinct PANS. ECI 2, 5-9, Networks 1-5, Brand: Visa

5 The SRC payment icon is available for use in connection with implementations of the EMV® Secure Remote Commerce Specification. The SRC payment icon image files are provided following execution of the EMVCo Trademark License Agreement for SRC payment icon and may only be used in conformance with the Secure Remote Commerce (SRC): Payment Icon Reproduction Requirements.