Visa is offering users rapid physical-to-digital card replacement services, specifically aimed at travellers who risk losing their physical cards whilst abroad.
The payments provider has made an addition to its product suite – Digital Emergency Card Replacement. The service delivers a digital card replacement on behalf of card issuers via text or email.
Travellers who have lost their cards can authenticate and add the cards to their digital wallets. The firm has cited the availability and widespread use of digital wallets by travellers, with 74% of American tourists alone using digital wallets on trips.
“We’ve all felt that moment of panic while on vacation – the loss of a card and the feeling of being stranded,” said Kathleen Pierce-Gilmore, Global Head of Issuing Solutions at Visa.
“Our new digital emergency card solution addresses these very issues. It offers instant, secure access to funds for travellers while enabling issuers to deliver superior customer service. It’s a win-win, demonstrating the power of digital payments to improve experiences for everyone.”
Visa has outlined several benefits it believes the new service can offer travellers. By going digital, travellers can reduce the inconvenience of cash by pre-loading cards into wallets, whilst staying informed of real-time spending and potential fraud activity.
The US payments giant states that the solution was developed in part because it recognised developing consumer preferences. It is certainly true that digital wallets are becoming an increasingly important part of the consumer payments experience.
At Money 20/20 earlier this month, for example, a number of payments stakeholders discussed the emergence of digital wallets and the growing significance of these services moving forward.
“Wallets play a very key role in ensuring that I, as a user, am at the centre of my flaws, whether it’s financial flaws or business flaws,” said Pramod Varma, Chief Architect Aadhaar at Beckn Protocol.
The addition of the new traveller-focused digital wallet offering at Visa is the latest expansion of the firm’s services of late, coming off the back of many other enhancements made this year so far.
The past six months have seen the company widen its adoption of tap-to-pay methods, look to expand the use of account-to-account payments in the US and launch an all-in-one subscription management service for financial institution
