Visa's latest stab at online payments is all about checking out faster
Remember V.me, Visa's big attempt at conquering the online payment space? You'll be forgiven if you don't -- it quickly fizzled out, in part because it was a digital wallet that sometimes made shopping more complicated. The company may have learned its lesson, though. It just launched Checkout, a considerably simpler approach to e-commerce. The focus here is purely on getting through the checkout process as quickly as possible. Once you've put in the details of supported credit or debit cards (including non-Visa cards), you just have to log in to complete a purchase, whether it's on a website, Android or iOS. There's no in-between wallet, and you won't get kicked over to another page just to wrap up a transaction.
Visa has already lined up a number of big-name stores that will use Checkout, including Lululemon, Newegg and Pizza Hut. You shouldn't have much trouble finding at least one store where it'll come in handy. However, the payment system doesn't necessarily have an easy road to success. Along with direct competition from MasterCard, Checkout has to go up against Amazon's even faster 1-Click system -- no mean feat when Amazon is the 800-pound gorilla in online shopping. Still, the service might save you a significant amount of time if you regularly shop at internet stores that aren't quite as monolithic as the one Jeff Bezos built.
