Visa launches new online payment button

Internet Retailing

15th Mar 2016

Visa Checkout has launched a new “swipe” feature that allows shoppers to complete their online purchase by sliding a virtual image of their credit, debit or prepaid card across the screen of a smartphone, tablet or laptop.

The interactive button streamlines payments for online shoppers; a consumer sees a picture of their card on the Visa Checkout button, swipes it to the right, and enters her password inside the button itself to authenticate.

The new feature is an evolution on Visa Checkout’s lightbox function which was introduced in 2014.

The interactive button is now available globally to merchants selling digital goods and services – such as music, movies, airline seats, and tickets – or items that customers purchase online and pick up in a physical store. Visa will extend the interactive button functionality to Visa Checkout merchants who ship goods in the coming months.

“Visa Checkout’s new interactive button is yet another way we are designing the future of online checkout and delivering on our promise to bring the simplicity of the swipe to any device,” said Sam Shrauger, senior vice president of Visa’s digital solutions.

“This new experience brings digital payments one step closer to the ease, trust and familiarity that consumers have long valued fromVisa in the physical world.”

According to the company, recent pilot tests in the United States have shown that enrolled Visa Checkout customers who used the interactive button were twice as likely to “click-through” and complete their purchase, compared to the existing Visa Checkout experience. 

Visa Checkout participants visiting Pizza Hut, for example, were roughly twice as likely to “click-through” and pay with the Visa Checkout interactive button, while those visiting the Virgin America and Fandango websites were each more than 1.3 times as likely, when compared to the original Visa Checkout lightbox.

“This design-led innovation is proven to increase conversion, helping merchants reach new customers,” said Shrauger.