Dive Brief:
- Visa Thursday announced it is launching Visa Developer, opening its retail payments technology to outside developers for the first time to encourage innovation.
- Developers will gain access to Visa technologies governing account identification, peer-to-peer payments, Visa Checkout and more.
- The move will help developers devise new ways for consumers and merchants to make and take payments via mobile and other platforms.
Dive Insight:
Visa is launching Visa Developer, opening its APIs and software development to outside parties for the first time. The move is designed to foster innovations that can help meet the needs of merchants and financial institutions accepting payments across a rapidly expanding variety of channels.
“The convergence of web, mobile and social networks is revolutionizing the way people buy and sell, and is driving the creation of new and innovative ways to pay,” said Jim McCarthy, global head of product for Visa Inc. in a statement.
The new portal will offer developers access to hundreds of Visa APIs and development kits, with plug-and-play testing capabilities. Companies such as Capital One, Scotiabank, and U.S. Bank are participating in beta testing of Visa Developer, and many have created prototype apps. In addition, forthcoming Visa Developer engagement centers will build collaboration among developers in major markets worldwide.
Visa’s move is big news in payments, where no dominant model has emerged to digitize and streamline payments. With open-source development, there will soon be many more ways to pay—and Visa is positioned to be at the center of those purchases.
