Dive Brief:
- The Visa Checkout button mobile payment solution is now available through e-commerce solutions provider BlueSnap's Powered Buy platform, giving merchants using the platform a faster checkout experience while increasing conversion rates, BlueSnap said.
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Visa Checkout customers complete 86% of cart transactions, and produce a conversion rate 51% higher than traditional online checkout, according to comScore data cited by BlueSnap.
- Visa Checkout works with smartphones, tablets, and laptop or desktop computers, and supports all major credit and debit cards. BlueSnap claims as one of its competitive edges an ability to automatically route transactions to multiple acquiring banks globally to ensure maximum payment success rates.
Dive Insight:
In a crowded market in which Visa Checkout has been nipping at the heels of other options for a couple of years now, getting greater exposure to more merchants is the name of the game. Integration with BlueSnap's platform can help make that happen.
Before this BlueSnap integration was announced, Visa Checkout was already doing pretty well this year trying to extend itself to more e-commerce sites, announcing in January that Wal-Mart, Starbucks and several other retailers agreed to accept to digital wallet option.
Visa also has pushed forth on the technology front, something it has to do as PayPal continues to roll out its own innovations. For example, the card company may pick up some new ideas from the broader software community after launching its Visa Developer open API program in February, a rollout that included giving third parties access to Visa Checkout components. The company also began using token technology to encrypt customer data last year, though in that regard it probably remains behind what Apple Pay and PayPal are doing in terms of fingerprint-based encryption.
The "wallet wars" are still playing out, and it's still difficult to figure out whether native retailer options, payment industry incumbents or technology juggernauts like Apple and Samsung will rule. Perhaps some combination of solutions from a variety of parties will win out, but hopefully not too many for the sake of wallet-weary customers.
