Clarks signs up to Visa's digital wallet service

Clarks is the second UK name to sign up to Visa’s V.me service after Dixons announced it would offer it earlier this year.

The service will first be available online and will work in a similar way to a PayPal account. It will save a shopper’s bank details in a V.me account, allowing them to pay for products without inputting their bank details. Visa is working with payments processor WorldPay to provide the service.

Digital wallet services also have the potential to be used for transactions in store, as retailers and banks roll out the technology. A smartphone app will give users access to their bank accounts, and NFC technology on the phone and in a retailer’s payment terminal will allow the two to communicate.

At the moment, however, there are no complete partnerships in the UK between banks and mobile operators, meaning shoppers are not yet able to use such a service. Retailers have also been reticent to invest in a digital wallet service because the market is fragmented and there is no market leader emerging as of yet.

Kelly Smirk, Head of MCR UK Operations at Clarks, said the retailer wants to give customers choice: “At Clarks we are all about giving the customer choice, which is why we are excited to be able to start offering them V.me by Visa, a new payment method supported by a well-known and trusted brand – Visa. This new payment method will give our customers more choice about how they want to pay online, making it more convenient, simple and safe.”