- The 16-digit code on credit and debit cards will probably become obsolete in the US.
- Banks will be able to issue a payment card connected to several accounts
- The new feature, already used in Asia, will be available in the US in the summer.
Visa is changing how its debit and credit cards work to reduce the number of physical cards Americans must carry.
With the new features, which will be available in the summer, banks will be able to issue a physical payment card connected to multiple bank accounts.
It means your wallet could slim down since you wouldn’t need to carry, for example, a Bank of America or Chase debit card in addition to your respective credit cards.
Americans will be able to customize their payment settings with their bank, such as having all purchases under $100 or with a certain merchant be made with their debit card, while other purchases be made with their credit cards.
Visa says new features it is rolling out could make obsolete the 16-digit code you must enter every time you shop on a new website.
Visa says this could make the 16-digit code you must enter every time you shop on a new website obsolete.
“I think (with these features) we’re passing the point where consumers will never need to manually enter an account number again,” said Mark Nelsen, Visa’s global head of consumer payments.
The new payments regime Visa is implementing marks the biggest changes to the way purchases are made in the United States since companies introduced chip cards several years ago.
This comes as the payments landscape has diversified in recent years with buy now, pay later businesses, peer-to-peer payment options, direct payments with a bank or digital payment systems like Apple Pay.
Buy now, pay later, Affirm will be the first Visa customer to implement the card removal feature.
Visa said its decision to change things is a response to the massive fraud involving online payments. The San Francisco-based company estimates that payment fraud occurs about seven times more often online than in person.
Mark Nelsen, Visa’s global head of consumer payments, believes a time is coming when consumers may never need to manually enter an account number again.
The Apple Card was also an impetus for change, as it does not come with a 16-digit printed account number. As part of this, Apple Card users can request a new credit card number at any time without having to get rid of the physical card.
Other clever tweaks are coming to tap-to-pay capabilities on smartphones.
Americans will soon be able to connect their credit or debit cards to their phones to add them to their mobile wallets, instead of using a smartphone camera to scan a card’s information.
They will also be able to hold their card close to their phones to approve an online transaction or tap it on a friend’s phone to send them money.
The new features will take time to be implemented by individual banks, who will decide when or what to implement for their customers.