The Aduno Group and Swisscard, two leading credit card companies, have teamed up with software company Netcetera, to launch SwissWallet, a digital wallet service that promises to “drive the digital transformation of credit cards.”
The service, which will operate through a new venture called Swiss One Wallet AG, consists in a digital wallet linked to card networks. SwissWallet will allow users to centrally store their credit cards and use any one of those with a single login.
SwissWallet, which will be rolled out in the coming weeks, will enable consumers to shop at any store that uses MasterCard’s MasterPass. The company further announced that it will launch in the second half of 2016, a feature for contactless payments for NFC-embedded mobile phone in retail stores, as well as peer-to-peer payment functions.
How it works
Essentially, SwissWallet allows users to pool all their credit cards details into one platform so shoppers can have a seamless buying experience.
When shopping, users only need to enter their login data, the information for the transaction and delivery address is automatically sent to the merchant.
SwissWallet will operate on servers that are located within Switzerland and unlike international wallets, the customer data remains with the respective card provider in the country. Customer data is subject to the respective card issuer’s data protection regulations and are equally as strict as with all other offers.
The identification and authentication of wallet holders is secured by a two-factor process and coordinated to the individual card provider’s processes.
Most importantly, SwissWallet is the first payment service that is permanently connected to MasterPass, a digital payment solution that can be used on any device.
MasterPass is open to credit cards from all payment networks, including MasterCard (obviously), Visa and American Express. 250,000 online merchants have already integrated MasterPass, the company claims.
According to Swiss One Wallet, centralized storage of credit card details has numerous advantages for consumers and small online stores: purchases can be done in a few clicks, credit cards details are always up-to-date and users don’t need to enter them each time.
Too many cards
SwissWallet is one of these fintech products that want to make our wallets much lighter by consolidating the numerous cards we have in them.
Unlike SwissWallet, startups such as Coin, Plastc, Swyp, Final and Stratos, have taken another approach to the matter by offering smart cards that store all sorts of cards: credit, debit, gift cards, rewards cards…
San Francisco-based Coin, a project that initially started in November 2013 on Kickstarter, has developed a .84 mm thin card that stores an unlimited number of payments methods.
Most recently, the startup released Coin 2.0, a device that uses NFC and is EMV-compatible that lets users tap to pay the way they would with Apple Pay, while enabling them to integrate their chip-and-pin cards to the device.
Coin is backed by Y Combinator, K9 Venture and former Google Wallet head Osama Bedier.
Watch Coin’s video presentation:
Featured image credit: Pixabay
