Visa Checkout has been well received in the tech industry so far and is seen as Visa’s answer to digital commerce. But merchants are even more bullish on the new technology than they’re letting on.
When Visa Checkout was announced, Visa named Neiman Marcus as one of the biggest merchants to adopt the technology. According to sources close to the company, a factor in the decision to adopt Visa Checkout was Neiman Marcus’s recent growth in the online sales department and, subsequently, a need to bolster its online commerce. With a new digital strategy that incorporates Visa Checkout, Neiman Marcus is hoping internally that the easy-to-use Visa Checkout system — which makes online transactions faster and intuitive — will help the retailer continue its online commerce growth.
We’ve reached out to Neiman Marcus and will update this post when the company responds.
Visa Checkout’s goal is to make mobile commerce transactions as easy as swiping your credit card. “[Entering] card numbers, addresses, and other information takes time and introduces friction to the transaction, which leads to abandoned transactions from customers. [Visa Checkout] is a simple, secure, way to use your plastic card and replicate that experience in digital channels,” Brad Greene, Visa’s VP of digital solutions in developed markets, told Bank Innovation in an earlier interview.
Merchants have welcomed the new feature too, says Greene. Big names like Staples, Pizza Hut, and United Airlines are attracted to the fact that Visa Checkout integrates right into their existing systems, doesn’t require a change in how they handle payments, and doesn’t take the customer out of the merchant’s website. Not only that, but Visa’s brand has clout in these circles. “After v.Me, which was a great experience for us, we carried over things that went well, and merchants told us that the Visa brand was very important — it represents trust and recognition,” Greene says.
With major retailers banking their digital commerce future on Visa, Visa Checkout shows Visa’s newfound focus on its digital products. With the recent hiring of Capital One Bank’s head of digital Jack Forestell as Visa’s new head of core products, and a strong emphasis on partnerships and new hires, Visa looks to create even better digital commerce tools for its merchant partners.