The licence allows Visa-issuing banks to offer Visa account holders the chance to add their debit, credit and prepaid cards to Google Wallet. The global nature of the licence means that Visa's European member banks will be able to offer the same service when it launches in other regions.
Peter Ayliffe, CEO of Visa Europe, said: "The convergence of payment applications on the mobile handset presents an exciting opportunity for banks, mobile operators and manufacturers to work together to offer consumers choice in the way they make and manage their payments. Building Visa technology into Google Wallet gives our member banks a revolutionary way to meet their customers’ needs through the smart phone.
"Mobile payments are reaching a tipping point in Europe: we believe that 2012 will be the year that new payment technologies such as mobile and contactless achieve mainstream consumer acceptance. Today's announcement is another demonstration of our commitment to working with players from across the payments ecosystem to bring our vision to life, delivering choice in payments for consumers and retailers.
"That day is approaching rapidly. In recent months we've taken major steps towards widespread contactless rollout; we now have over 70,000 contactless terminals in the UK and a total of 150,000 around Europe. By the end of 2011, there will be over 30 million contactless Visa cards in circulation across Europe. For London 2012, for the first time at an Olympic and Paralympic Games, we will be implementing contactless payment technology across the event venues.
“Earlier this year we also announced a partnership with Samsung to launch an exclusive contactless-enabled Olympics handset, allowing consumers to make mobile payments throughout London 2012. This represents a major milestone for contactless and mobile technology in Europe, showcasing to a global audience all the benefits and advantages that it can bring.
"In the next few weeks we will be announcing further new products and services that mark yet another piece of the overall picture: each one is a stepping stone towards the next evolution of the payments industry. Ultimately, working with our partners and our member banks, we are enabling consumers to make payments at any time, in any place, and from any device."