Visa Europe will be the first company to benefit from an IBM and Monitise partnership that aims to better support mobile e-commerce payments via in the cloud.
Customers of Visa's member banks will be able to make payments on using their smartphones and a range of other mobile devices, in addition to connecting with retailers and taking advantage of enhanced money management functionality.
Visa is committed to making mobile commerce and payments ever easier by connecting consumers, member banks and retail businesses together through the globally trusted Visa network.
The deal will see Monitise use IBM's Smarter Commerce cloud service, while the firm will offer its Bank Anywhere, Pay Anyone and Buy Anything offerings to Visa. In addition, IBM will provide a broad range of software, technology services and consulting, including IBM Mobile First solutions.
Today, there are 466 million Visa accounts operational in Europe and, by 2020 more than half of its transactions will be carried out using a mobile device, according to the payments giant. It said the service would enable its 3,000-plus member banks across 36 countries to increase their share of the transactions carried out on a daily basis.
"Visa recognises the specialist nature of making mobile services intuitive, convenient and relevant to the consumer, as well as meeting the need for interoperability across the scale and diversity of Europe. We are excited about the value that this collaboration will deliver for our members," said Steve Chambers, Visa Europe's CIO.
"Visa is committed to making mobile commerce and payments ever easier by connecting consumers, member banks and retail businesses together through the globally trusted Visa network, and by working even more closely with a combined Monitise and IBM team, we are making this vision a reality."
The partnership with Visa Europe represents a "launch pad" for a wider multi-year agreement between IBM and Monitise to offer additional mobile services to businesses in the mobile payments market, the companies claim.
Craig Hayman, general manager at IBM Industry Solutions, said that Visa and its member banks would be able to respond and adapt to more quickly to customers by using the cloud.
"Our collaboration with Monitise will enable us to not only to help Visa and its member banks offer new mobile services but also transform the way that mobile commerce itself is done around the globe," he added.
"By deploying Smarter Commerce at Visa, we will accelerate the power of mobile commerce in new and innovative ways by bringing financial institutions, retailers and customers closer together than ever before."
