Visa launches payments and security platform for developers

For the first time, Visa is opening up its payments technology to developers.

Visa has officially launched Visa Developer, an open platform that allows developers to access Visa’s suite of payment products and services, Visa APIs, and software development kits that work with Visa payment products and capabilities, a testing sandbox that offers application developers a plug and play experience, and access to Visa test data.

“As the leader in payments we have an opportunity to transform global commerce by opening-up access to our global network and supporting our clients, industry partners and innovators in their pursuit of creating new, easier and more secure ways to pay,” said Charlie Scharf, CEO of Visa. “Visa Developer represents not only a new access point to our network, but a new distribution platform for Visa products and services globally.”

Over the past few months, financial institutions and tech companies have been working on beta versions of the Developer platform, including Capital One, CIBC, TD Bank Group, and Scotiabank. Users will have access to Visa technology including account holder identification, person-to-person payment capabilities, secure in-store and online payment services such as Visa Checkout, currency conversion and consumer transaction alerts. Visa said it is planning on providing more access to other payment capabilities over the next year.

“Scotiabank applauds the creation of the Visa Developer platform for its ability to accelerate innovation and the launch of new, customer-focused payments solutions,” said Brian McCabe, vice president of Day to Day Banking at Scotiabank. “The payments ecosystem is evolving rapidly, making the timely delivery of solutions-driven technology more critical than ever.”