Visa Introduces Rapid Person-to-Person Payments to Millions of Customers via Partner Banks

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World’s first activation of the service by Russia’s 1^st Processing Bank (QIWI Group) and Ukraine’s Privat Bank enables customers to send, pay and receive funds through the Visa network  in minutes

Karachi, February 28, 2011 – Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), one of the global leaders in the payments industry, today announced the introduction of a new person-to-person payments service that will allow millions of customers to send and receive funds within minutes both internationally and domestically.

This service comes as a result of a major enhancement to the Visa network that enables Visa card accounts to receive funds in near real-time. The enhancement is expected to prompt a new generation of personal payment services on Visa cards -  including person-to-person payments, mobile money transfers, cross-border and domestic remittances, electronic bill pay, prepaid reloads and inter-account transfers.

The new service is available to participating Visa clients and their customers in markets across Asia Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. Along with 1^st Processing Bank (QIWI Group) in Russia and Privat Bank in Ukraine, UAE Exchange in the United Arab Emirates and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China are also pioneering this innovative new service.

Today, Russia’s largest payment kiosk operator, 1^st Processing Bank (QIWI Group), and Ukraine’s largest bank, Privat Bank, become the first financial institutions in the world to activate the new Visa person-to-person payments service. Consumers in these two countries can access the service through more than 110,000 kiosks, the internet or the mobile web round-the-clock. It is aimed at addressing the strong demand which exists for funds transfer services between the two countries - some US$1.3 billion worth of funds transfers occur annually between Russia and Ukraine[1] for the purposes of person-to-person payments, family support and bill payments.

“This latest enhancement to our global payment network is truly a milestone for Visa. It greatly expands how Visa cards are used - from being not only the best way to pay, but also the best way to receive money quickly. The speed, trust and global reach that are the hallmarks of Visa’s network now apply to a new range of personal payments,” said Elizabeth Buse, Group Executive for international markets at Visa.

 “Demand is strong due to the convergence of three international trends: the proliferation of internet and mobile technologies, the growth of micro businesses, and an increasingly mobile workforce. Visa’s personal payments platform presents a great business opportunity to any of our financial institution clients who want to participate ,” continued Buse.

How Visa Person-to-Person Payments Work

Consumers can initiate Visa person-to-person payments through a wide variety of channels, such as internet banking, Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs), self-service kiosks, bank branches, payment agents, or by telephone. The payment may be funded through the sender’s Visa card, their bank account or cash. The service does away with the need for senders to fill out complicated forms and provide routing information such as bank codes and branch addresses. Instead, senders simply provide their recipient’s Visa card number to initiate the funds transfer. 

When processed through VisaNet, Visa’s global payments network, these person-to-person payments will be credited directly to the eligible Visa credit, debit or prepaid account in minutes, freeing recipients from having to visit agent locations to collect cash.

The service will be offered to consumers through participating financial institutions and authorized providers of payments services.

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About Visa Inc.: Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world’s most advanced processing networks—VisaNet—that is capable of handling more than 10,000 transactions a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank, and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: Pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.