3 new technologies from Visa could lighten your wallet and payments this year

31.05.2024 - 14:29 / thepointsguy.com

The world of digital commerce is ever-evolving. Thanks to new technologies introduced by Visa, paying with credit cards and sending and receiving payments should soon be easier than ever before.

At the annual Visa Payments Forum in San Francisco in mid-May, Visa announced several new products designed to fight fraud and give consumers and merchants more control over the payment process. The company will begin introducing a suite of new features, including those below, in the U.S. throughout the remainder of 2024; some features are already available in parts of Asia.

Here's a closer look at what to expect.

The average U.S. consumer carries 3.9 credit cards as of the third quarter of 2023, according to Experian. But it's also common for credit card rewards enthusiasts to have many more credit card accounts than average. There's no such thing as a perfect number of credit cards as long as you handle your accounts in a responsible manner.

Yet, if you have several credit cards, you may not want to carry all of them around with you in your wallet. Whether for safety or convenience reasons, there's a good chance you may leave some of your credit cards at home. A new tool from Visa, dubbed Visa Flexible Credential, could make life with multiple credit cards easier to manage when pilot programs start to become available later this year.

With Visa Flexible Credential, you'll be able to use a single credit or debit card as a tool to access different payment options. A company survey found that half of credit card users wanted the ability to take advantage of this technology.

If you're confused by how this feature might work, here's an example:

Imagine you visit a local brick-and-mortar store and begin the checkout process by tapping or inserting your debit card, but before the actual charge for the purchase takes place, you use an app on your smartphone to swap out your payment method. Instead of paying with the debit card you tapped or inserted, the transaction posts to your credit card — even if you didn't physically have the card in your wallet at the time of purchase.

Related: 5 signs you have too many credit cards

Visa also announced changes to its tap-to-pay features. The new technology will give customers in the U.S. the capability to add credit cards and debit cards to the mobile wallets in their smartphones via tap. For reference, Apple Pay, Google Pay and mobile wallet users have added credit cards and debit cards using their smartphone's camera scan feature or via manual entry up until now.

Additionally, credit card holders may use tap-to-confirm features when shopping online, which is intended to provide additional security.

Finally, tap to P2P (person-to-person) aims to give cardholders increased