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Visa Inc. and U.S. Bancorp today announced plans to launch a test later this year of technology that enables registered U.S. Visa cardholders to send funds to one another, the first U.S.-based trial involving transfers between Visa accounts. Speaking during the Visa Innovation Briefing 2008 this morning in New York, Elizabeth Buse, Visa global head of product, noted that Visa expects several other banks to participate but did not note specific issuers. The test will involve Visa-branded debit, credit and prepaid cards, she said. Up to 6,000 cardholders will participate in the initial test, according to Visa. Based on the lessons learned during the test, a second phase would extend the initiative to include cross-border transactions during the first half of next year, Visa says. Visa's brand appears on some 1.6 billion cards. Cardholders participating in the test will be able to initiate funds transfers using a mobile Web browser to access a secure interface. Participating issuers will determine their own pricing terms, Buse said.
