Visa to Develop Applications for Android and Nokia Phones

Visa (V) said Thursday that it will develop applications for Android and Nokia (NOK) phones with mobile payment systems planned for the latter.

First up, the company said Chase Visa cardholders could get notifications about transaction activity on Android phones (statement). Visa added that location-based services, maps and merchant offers will also be delivered to Android phones. Visa plans to expand the program to other account holders at other banks and financial institutions.

Visa has been expanding into mobile payment statements for the day where phones can become currency. In a statement, Visa noted it wants to “accelerate the migration from paper forms of payment to digital money.” Visa, along with partners such as Google, Intel, Nokia and Singapore Post, was demonstrating new payment technology in New York.

In addition, Visa said it will develop applications for Nokia’s platform (statement). Visa’s plans for Nokia go beyond what it is doing with Android. Visa plans to develop contactless payments, remote payments, money transfer and alerts and notifications for Nokia’s 6212 Classic and next generation handsets. Visa’s rollout starts in October.

The Visa-Nokia payment rollout will start with a trial with interested institutions.

Why can’t Visa do mobile payments with Android? In a nutshell, Nokia’s handsets have integrated “near field communication” chipsets. These chips allow a device to act like a payment card so consumers can swipe the phone during a purchase. Nokia and Visa have launched numerous trials abroad, which makes a lot of sense given contactless payment systems are more advanced overseas. The U.S. is just getting started.

Comments

[looking:]

Visa is great at developing new features to make Visa more attractive. Now if they would just get out there and promote the fact that they are not a "financial" stock. There is no risk for Visa when cardholders make purchases or use Visa as a debit card. They don't extend credit. They make money every time someone makes a transaction. This stock is tanking while Visa is making a ton of money. What they need to do now while banks are merging or closing is spend some money to tell people how safe Visa is an investment. Visa has been labeled "financial". Financials are risky investments. Visa needs to spend some money by promoting what they really are if they want their stock to go up.

2008 Sep 29 10:24 AM