Visa Inc. is developing an online shopping system that would enable consumers to manage and store their payment account details.
The San Francisco payments company said last week it is now testing the service, called Rightcliq, and plans to introduce it this spring. After Rightcliq goes live, Visa will likely add additional features, based on consumer feedback.
"Visa is such a large preferred form of payment for e-commerce that we're very focused on investing in products that make it easier to shop on the Internet," Byron Pollitt, Visa's chief financial officer, said in a speech at a recent technology conference.
Rightcliq will permit consumers to create a list of items they want to purchase.
Consumers can initiate purchases with Rightcliq, or access the system through participating merchants' Web sites.
The site will automatically load a shopper's shipping address and payment card account number. Users will be able to store multiple payment accounts, track shipping and redeem special offers from various merchants through Rightcliq.
The site will also be linked to social media Web sites such as Facebook, so users can solicit opinions and ideas about specific products from friends.
Google Inc. operates a similar service, Checkout, that also stores payment and delivery details and is designed to make online shopping faster and more convenient.
Google initially offered low transaction processing rates to merchants that also used the online search company's advertising services, though in the past year it has revised that business model as advertising declined. It now offers rates that are comparable to other online payment services from rivals PayPal Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.
Visa declined to make executives available to discuss Rightcliq and its e-commerce strategy.
