Visa Launches Real-Time Payments In Europe

Visa, the payments company, announced news on Thursday (Nov. 2) of the European launch of Visa Direct, a real-time international payments platform.

In a press release, Visa said Visa Direct enables person-to-person (P2P), business-to-consumer (B2C), and business-to-business (B2B) money transfers. Through the service, funds can be transferred into the recipient’s Visa account quickly and securely, providing instant access to money and the ability to make purchases at 44 million merchants around the globe.

“For decades, Visa has led the way in transforming the way we pay in stores and online. Now, we have an opportunity to transform how consumers and businesses pay each other in a fast, convenient and secure way,” said Mike Lemberger, senior vice president of Product Solutions, Visa, Europe, in the press release. “Visa Direct is a proven platform that enables technology companies, businesses and financial institutions to meet the demand for real-time payments, backed by the ubiquity, cost-efficiency and speed of Visa’s global network.”

Visa said in the press release that it is working with service providers, financial institution clients and strategy patterns to roll out services using Visa Direct.

One of those partners is Worldpay, which is a global payment processing technology company for merchants. Worldpay was tapped by Visa to accelerate the availability of Visa Direct to merchants in Europe and eventually across all of its markets globally.

What’s more, Visa said that once recipients’ banks make the changes necessary to their systems, Visa Direct will enable Worldpay’s merchants to send real-time international payments to consumers.

“In recent years, the payments landscape has changed dramatically, with clients and consumers alike expecting to be able to make a payment under their own terms — whether that is making a real-time payment or using a specific method. We are proud to be working with Visa on this unrivaled platform as an early adopter in Europe and other global markets and believe that Visa Direct is an important step in meeting those needs, providing both acquirers and merchants with the tools they need,” Dave Glaser, chief product officer at Worldpay, said in the same press release.