Visa Inc. is adopting a version of its PayWave contactless technology based on the Europay, MasterCard, Visa security format.
Visa said Wednesday that PayWave 2.0 offers better encryption and is compatible with existing contactless payment systems. This version "will allow card issuers and vendors globally to implement contactless solutions that are globally interoperable, while also providing advanced, EMV-based security," Elizabeth Buse, Visa's global head of product, said in a press release.
The EMV security format uses smart cards to offer security better than that of standard magnetic stripe cards; it is widely used abroad.
Visa also announced several milestones for its PayWave cards. Two banking companies in Brazil are now testing them; eight issuers are offering them in Taiwan; and several banks in China and South Korea are now issuing cobranded versions.
Twenty banks on five continents are planning to test or roll out the cards soon, Visa said.
