EXCLUSIVE – Payments processor Vantiv is gearing up to reveal a new digital issuing product early next year that will allow users to download a digital credit card within minutes of opening a bank account.
While many of the product details are still under wrap, Mick Oppy, vice president of financial institution products at Vantiv, shared some clues with Bank Innovation.
“This is something unique,” he said. “The basic premise is if you went to a bank, opened an account and then downloaded the bank’s mobile app, you’ll receive an invitation to accept your digital card, which will automatically be pushed to your wallet on acceptance.”
The product will likely be unveiled in early 2018, Oppy said. While Oppy admitted there were “plenty” of banks interested in the product, he declined to divulge specific names.
One of the obvious benefits of this product is the speed with which customers can access their cards while they wait for the physical one to arrive in the mail. But another, perhaps more significant benefit, is that it allows banks to deal with fraud and compromise issues more efficiently.
Oppy explained that in the case where a customer reports a missing or compromised card, this new product will enable banks to immediately send the user a digital card so that they are not without a payment means, while the bank tackles the fraud issue.
The subject of fraud and compromise is a particularly important to payment focused fintech companies as it is to banks and financial institutions, Oppy suggested. And indeed it is no surprise that measures to combat fraud, which encompasses data management and protection, is certainly key in the digital space.
Aside from exploring new features and products, Vantiv is also focused on its inorganic strategy.
Most recently on July 5, it agreed to acquire its British counterpart, WorldPay, for almost £7.7 billion (about $10 billion).
Vantiv, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VNTV, has a market capitalization of $12.65 billion.
Based on a March 2017 Nilson Report , the Cincinnati, Ohio-based Vantiv beat its Atlanta-based rival First Data, for the first time in two decades, as the largest U.S. merchant acquirer. According to the company’s second quarter results, Vantiv anticipates to announce a 10%-11% net revenue increase for the full year of 2017, over last year.