Global payments firm Visa has announced that more online shopping sites in the UAE now offer Visa Checkout, the digital checkout service that allows shoppers to pay with their cards online and on any device that’s connected to the internet.
Visa Checkout-enabled shopping sites include Emirates airline, retailers such as MarkaVIP and Sporter; cinema and entertainment sites such as Reel Cinemas and Time Out; food, service and utility merchants such as Freedom Pizza, Trolley.ae, and Washmen.
Enrolling in Visa Checkout is a simple, one-time process, taking only a few minutes. Consumers simply store their shipping and payment information in a secure account with Visa once, and they never have to re-enter it again when shopping online at all merchants globally who offer Visa Checkout.
Online shoppers in the UAE can use any Visa debit or credit card or even other branded cards to shop online at any UAE merchants that accept Visa Checkout. The service is a Visa card for the digital world and it takes away the frustration that many online shoppers face in having to submit large amounts of information – such as their name, card numbers and billing address - each time they want to make an online purchase.
Nathan Cushnie, Head of Emerging Products & Innovation, MENA at Visa, said: “We introduced Visa Checkout in the UAE earlier in 2015 and have seen tremendous excitement since then from both merchants and bank card issuers for the digital checkout service’s ability to ensure that consumers have a seamless and secure experience while shopping online. Globally, our Visa Checkout merchant partners are already seeing the benefits, and we are expecting similar results here in the UAE.”
A recent study found that Visa Checkout helps ensure a browsing customer converts into paying customer as 86 per cent of customers enrolled with Visa Checkout completed their transactions. They were also 51 per cent more likely to complete a transaction compared to customers who have to enter card and address information manually in the traditional online checkout path. Also, Visa Checkout allows retailers to tap into the trust consumers have in the Visa brand. More than 96 per cent of Visa Checkout customers said that they felt secure when making a purchase.
“We looked at many such payment methods and it was clear to us that Visa Checkout was by far ahead of competing solutions. From our customer point of view, Visa Checkout contributed favorably to user experience, increased our non-cash payments and reduced our dropped basket,” said Alan Dempsey, Chief Financial Officer, MarkaVIP.
“The persistence of cash on delivery within the MENA region is the bane of the eCommerce sector. I firmly believe that Visa Checkout is a needle shifting payment method whose user friendliness will in itself motivate our customer to pay by card and also help us to reduce our operating costs.”
