• Payments leader Visa launched its Subscription Manager service this week.
• The new offering enables financial institutions to give Visa cardholders an easy way to track and manage their subscriptions.
• Visa made its first Finovate appearance at FinovateSpring in 2010.

Expected to reach $406 billion by 2025, the international subscription economy has been an increasingly attractive opportunity for fintechs and financial services companies alike. The growth of the subscription economy has meant a surge in demand for solutions to help consumers deal with their ever-growing reliance on subscription services. Among Finovate alums alone, firms from Minna Technologies to Subaio have demonstrated leadership in this “subscription management” space.

As such, it is little surprise to learn that global payments leader Visa is getting into the game. The company announced the launch of its Subscription Manager service this week. The new offering will enable financial institutions to provide Visa cardholders with an easy way to track and manage their subscriptions.

“Managing subscriptions can often feel like a maze, with consumers sometimes feeling trapped in a cycle of confusing charges,” Visa Global Head of Issuing Solutions Kathleen Pierce-Gilmore said. “Our goal is to make this process simpler and ensure cardholders know exactly where their money is going, and when.”

Visa’s Subscription Manager streamlines information on recurring payments, locating that data in one place to make it easy for cardholders to see where their card details are stored, view the recurring payments that are on each card, and to stop recurring payments where services are no longer wanted. Whether the subscription type is a streaming service, a gym membership, or a utilities payment, Visa’s Subscription Manager gives its cardholders a new level of convenience and control when it comes to ensuring that they are only subscribed to the actual services they want and use.

Currently available as a pilot project in select regions, Subscription Manager is the latest addition to Visa’s Digital Enablement product suite. The suite includes a set of tools and solutions designed to enable issuers to offer better digital experiences for their cardholders.

Visa has been a Finovate alum since its debut at FinovateSpring in 2010. A leader in digital payments, Visa facilitates transactions across more than 200 countries and territories. The company is publicly traded on the NYSE under the ticker “V” and has a market capitalization of $556 billion. Ryan McInerney was appointed CEO in February 2023.

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• Visa’s Cybersource is partnering with payment acceptance company Ingenico.
• The two will leverage Ingenico’s Android-based AXIUM system, along with Cybersource’s open payment platform, to launch an all-in-one global commerce solution.
• The aim of the new commerce solution is to reduce costs and complexities associated with technical integrations, increase speed to market, and provide omni-channel capabilities.

France-based payment acceptance company Ingenico announced it has partnered with Visa’s Cybersource. The two are leveraging Ingenico’s Android-based AXIUM system, combined with Cybersource’s open payment platform, to create a unified global commerce solution.  

Ingenico’s AXIUM offers a range of point-of-sale (POS) terminals, along with a suite of business applications. The new unified commerce solution will be available on all AXIUM devices, which will allow for an easy way to scale without having to go through a certification process for each new device.​

Cybersource, Visa’s agnostic global payment and fraud management platform, is part of Visa Acceptance Solutions, a connectivity hub that provides acquirers, independent software vendors, and merchants with access to what they need to create scalable commerce experiences. Crafting a global solution with real-time transaction visibility and data analytics helps acquirers focus on card clearance and settlement. Because the solution leverages both Ingenico’s and Cybersource’s ecosystems, it also allows acquirers to expand into new merchant segments.

“Combining the global reach of Visa and Ingenico and using the Ingenico Android technology stack, will accelerate innovation and reduce complexity,” said Ingenico Chief Customer Officer Nigel Lee. “We believe together we can reduce time to market for customers and allow our clients and partners to realise the benefits of a truly unified omnichannel solution. This is a significant step in our vision to move commerce forward by harnessing the collective strengths of our combined technologies and networks.”

Under today’s partnership, Cybersource will be able to provide a ready-to-use commerce solution that can authorize in-store card transactions across international borders. Ultimately, the two companies aim to use the new global commerce solution to reduce costs and complexities associated with technical integrations, increase speed to market, and provide omni-channel capabilities that suit both consumers and businesses.

Founded in 1980, Ingenico works with more than 1,000 banks and acquirers in more than 37 countries. With 4,000 employees, the company helps power 2,500 payment apps and 40 million terminals across the globe. Last year, Ingenico partnered with Fujitsu Frontech to launch a new solution that authenticates customer identities and facilitates payment using the palm of their hand for in-person transactions.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

• Lloyds Bank has partnered with Visa to leverage the payment firm’s Visa Commercial Pay virtual card program.
• Visa Commercial Pay is available to Lloyds Bank’s business customers.
• The new tool aims to help businesses control spending, reconcile invoices, and report on expenditures.

In a world where digital banking reigns supreme, digital payment tools are king. That’s likely the motivation behind Lloyds Bank’s recent deal with Visa. The U.K.-based bank has tapped the U.S. payments giant to power its new virtual card solution.

Lloyds Bank’s is launching a new virtual card tool for businesses, Visa Commercial Pay, and is the first bank to launch Visa Commercial Pay in the U.K. The new tool aims to help small businesses to enterprises solve their purchasing and administrative challenges. For example, the solution can help them control spending, reconcile invoices, and report on expenditures.

“Visa Commercial Pay is a next generation payment platform that provides the technology to help businesses simplify and streamline the way they make payments, all in a secure and controlled way,” said Visa Managing Director, U.K. & Ireland Mandy Lamb. “We’re delighted to launch this in the U.K. in partnership with Lloyds Bank, delivering seamless payment experiences for U.K. businesses.”

Visa Commercial Pay works like most typical virtual cards in that it instantly issues virtual card numbers to businesses and their employees, allowing them to make card-not-present purchases right away. Employees can request a single or multi-use card number through their employer’s existing approval workflow and reference fields.

Employers have the option to issue cards individually or by batch and can manage spending via controls based on location, time, purchaser, and merchant.

“We’ve worked hard to create a solution that offers a secure, simplified process that enables businesses to pay their suppliers earlier while protecting their working capital,” said Lloyds Bank Head of Commercial Cards James Sykes.

Virtual card issuance has seen a spike amongst business users in the past few years. Not only has their utility increased with the rise of the digital economy, but the security of the cards has also proven a key benefit. That’s because many cards are issued for one-time or limited use, which reduces the risk for fraud and unauthorized transactions. Additionally, the control, visibility, and reporting capabilities the cards offer employers makes virtual cards a clear choice, especially among small businesses with limited resources.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

• Vehicle payment platform Car IQ partnered with Visa to power its in-vehicle merchant payments solution, Car IQ Pay Vehicle Wallet.
• The partnership will enable wallet users to pay for fuel, tools, parking, insurance, service, and repairs without requiring a physical card.
• Analysts expect the connected vehicle market to reach $600 billion by 2030.

Payment platform for vehicles, Car IQ, has partnered with Visa. The San Francisco-based company is working with the payments and credit card giant to power its in-vehicle merchant payments solution, Car IQ Pay Vehicle Wallet. The partnership will enable vehicles to transact directly with Visa’s global merchant and bank network. The Car IQ Pay Vehicle Wallet can then be used to pay for fuel, tools, parking, insurance, service, EV charging, and repairs.

“Our collaboration with Visa allows us to accelerate the adoption of vehicle payments and make them a seamless part of the fleet experience today, and the consumer experience of the future,” Car IQ CEO Sterling Pratz said. “Our vehicle wallet allows banks and merchants to trust payments from vehicles as well as any other IoT device, over the Visa network.”

The addition of vehicle data is a key component of the partnership. This data supports new contextual payment experiences including real-time offers and personalized rewards for drivers, merchants, or even entire fleets. Car IQ’s Know Your Machine technology authenticates a machine’s identity in order to enable vehicles of all types to transact directly with merchants.

A recent study from Ptolemus Consulting Group noted that the connected vehicle payment market could reach $600 billion by 2030. In a statement, Veronica Fernandez, North American Head of Visa Business Solutions, added that the total spend for commercial fleet payments is more than $80 billion. This sum includes cash, checks, ACH, as well as traditional fleet car payments. Fernandez said that the collaboration with Car IQ will help “drive growth of vehicle-based payments that allow users to take control of their fleet business through enhanced and timely data capabilities that allow for real-time business decisions.”

Car IQ is also partnering with automobile OEMs to embed payments within consumer vehicles. The company’s Car IQ Pay in-dash vehicle wallet, for example, connects to merchants on Visa’s network, enabling payments directly from the car’s infotainment system. Pratz noted that while its efforts are focused on vehicles, there’s more to the Car IQ platform than making payments from cars. “Our platform is designed to easily support any IoT device payment, and we are already seeing interest for connected ‘smart’ city applications and believe the connected home will be next,” Pratz said.

More than 25,000 fuel stations in the U.S accept the company’s Car IQ Pay solution. In June, Car IQ announced a partnership with PDI Technologies to process commercial fleet transactions. In March, the company worked with the United States Auto Club (USAC) to sponsor the “The Fab Four” racing competition for female drivers.

Founded in 2017, Car IQ has raised $42 million in funding, according to Crunchbase. In February, the company secured $15 million in an oversubscribed Series B round. Car IQ began the year teaming up with BlackBerry IVY to launch its in-dash vehicle wallet.

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