Visa Launches Real Time Visa Account Update In Asia Pacific To Simplify Payment Experience

Photo: Special

JAKARTA - Visa, the world's leader in digital payments, today announced the expansion of the Real Time Visa Account Update (VAU) to selected markets in Asia Pacific, which simplifies the payment experience for merchants and customers by providing cardholders with singles for life.

With this service, consumers and merchants in Asia Pacific will have access to Real Time VAU on various subscription services such as online transportation services, food delivery, and monthly bill payments.

Supported by Visa technology, Real Time VAU helps merchants solve payment problems due to debit cards and credit cards that have expired or updated, by allowing businesses or merchants to easily update card details stored in real time.

When the merchant sends the payment, Real Time VAU immediately checks the latest card details and will transact the request for payment with updated card details, thereby reducing the level of refusal to authorization, sales failure, and termination of ties with cardholders. Real Time VAU was first launched by Visa in North America in 2017, and in Europe in 2022.

"While the validity period and card replacement are required as part of protection against fraud and increased security, we recognize that consumers often face unnecessary discomfort as they have to update various automated payment settings every few years when new cards are issued," said TR Ramachandran, Head of Products & Solutions, Asia Pacific, Visa.

The launch of Real Time VAU, he continued, in collaboration with its partners in Asia Pacific, will simplify this process while continuing to prioritize the highest level of security.

"By providing this technology to merchants, we empower them to increase card revenue and authorization rates, while providing a free payment experience that suits consumer expectations today," he added.

Businesses and consumers are increasingly migrating from cash to electronic payments and cards, driven by the proliferation of contactless payments and online services. However, the process of manually updating credentials at the time of the expiration or upgrade rate card causes difficulty in the payment process.

By facilitating a secure exchange of account information between participating merchants and Visa card issuers, VAU empowers these merchants to provide an unlimited payment experience that fosters customer loyalty and retention, while increasing overall sales revenue.

In Asia Pacific, Visa partnered with four gateways and global payment acquisitions --Adyen, Checkout.com, Stripe, and Worldpay-- to launch VAU in Asia Pacific. Cybersource, one of Visa's solutions, also offers VAU to customers for more businesses across the region that can benefit VAU. This will primarily benefit businesses offering subscription services, such as vehicle booking apps, food delivery and utilities, and more.