Visa has announced the payment company will be introducing support for the same tokenization system used by Apple Pay by mid-April. This move will add a new way for Europeans to pay with their smartphones, all whilst keeping their card details secure and concealed. According to the announcement:
"The tokenisation service protects customer data, substituting the payment account information found on a plastic card with a series of numbers that can be used to authorise payment without exposing actual account details. When consumers use their mobile device to make a contactless payment in a store, a token is submitted, rather than their account details."
Visa is working to maintain its position as a middle man between the consumer at the banks, and will pave way for payment gateways to make use of more secure contactless transactions. There's still no word on exactly when Apple plans to launch its service in Europe, but with things being set into motion, it can't be long.
Source: Visa, via: The Next Web