It might seem too late to the digital wallet party, but Visa’s V.me could prove to be a major competitor to category leader PayPal, said Stern Agee analyst GregSmith.
In a prepared statement, Smith stated: “Given Visa’s near ubiquity with consumers and merchants, we give the V.me digital wallet a high chance of achieving at least some reasonable success....We think V.me should be able to gain some market share away from PayPal over time.”
In an interview, Smith elaborated that although PayPal makes it very easy to pay with a sharedraft or checking account, “it takes many extra clicks to pay with a credit card.” Fees are lower for PayPal when sharedraft accounts are used and so it steers transactions in that direction, said Smith.
V.me will accept payment via multiple credit cards (including MasterCard), said Smith.
A plus for consumers is that when using V.me, all that needs to be entered is an email address and a password. There is no need to share account information with merchants.
Visa, on the product’s website, also highlights: “Enjoy the same rewards you currently get when you use your cards.” Collecting appropriate rewards points is a continuing source of friction with Google Wallet users and it may be a complication with other digital wallets.
“Face it,” added Smith, “you - the consumer - will soon be using a mobile wallet. You may use several. But you will be using at least one” and, he suggested, V.me just may earn a place at a crowded table that already includes, in addition to PayPal, GoogleWalletand possibly Isis, the digital wallet - now in pilots - from a number of large banks and cellular carriers that have banded together.
