Visa predicts 'six digital wallets worldwide'
Payments giant Visa believes there is room in the market for only about six digital wallets worldwide.Vipin Kalra, country manager for Visa Australia told delegates at FST Media's Technology and Innovation conference in Sydney on Friday that Visa's wallet would exist "in the cloud" and be accessible from any device. He again stressed the open nature of the Visa wallet, saying that people could use it to store their MasterCard or American Express accounts, as well as Visa or loyalty accounts.It would hopefully be launched soon, he said. Kalra said that some of the functions of Payclick, an online service pioneered in Australia last year, would be integrated into the Visa wallet. Payclick allows online accounts to be established with up to $999.99 credit that can then be used to make online purchases from vendors who have signed up for the serviceVisa unveiled its plans to develop a digital wallet in May this year, promising that the system would be operational in the US and Canada during their autumn, leaving the organisation with about five weeks left to come good on its promise. "There's been a lot of noise about whose wallet will win," said Kalra, noting that organisations such as Google and Apple were also in the race, along with card companies, telcos and banks. "I do expect there will be only about half a dozen wallets.""The trick is to create a unique customer experience," he said, noting that creating location-based services was the "tricky bit". Kalra predicted that "the battle will be won by those that are customer-centric." But, to succeed, digital wallets not only need the support of end-users but merchants who will accept them. "Who's going to accept these wallets? That's a much bigger battle," Kalra acknowledged, saying that was where Visa had invested most time.