Have you seen the recent TV ad for Visa Europe? It’s a little gem!
It begins with an elderly gent receiving a call on his mobile that causes him to jump into action. We follow him as he picks up his Visa Europe card and scuttles out the door clearly in a hurry to get to a certain destination, and spurred on by the music of Queen. The fun of the video is spotting how in each scene he gets younger and younger. By the end he’s almost a callow youth, clutching the purchases he’s made on the way by using his card. In the final scenes we see him back to his usual age and giving his granddaughter who has just given birth the presents he acquired along the way.
It’s a clever video that melds the storyline with the message of using Visa Europe to make quick, simple and secure purchases at a variety of stores and shops while being on the move. You may even have had some experience of the Visa Europe system if you were lucky enough to get to the Olympic Park in East London last year. Visa were a major sponsor of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and developed 3000 contactless Point of Sale (POS) terminals at all the venues to manage payments throughout the events.
The line at the end of the video is “Feel Faster, Flow Faster”. If we want to make a payment, we want to the transaction so occur speedily and safely. I pay, and receive the goods. Bang Bang. No fuss, no tedious long waiting-time for authorisation. It’s good for you and its good for the business you are dealing with, and in the wider picture, it’s good for the economy. Electronic payments are now essential to the success of individuals, business, economies, and societies. Cash is becoming so old hat. Consumers prefer cards for every day spending. Fact. £1 of every £3 spent in the UK is now conducted on Visa cards? The future holds not just more “chip and PIN” transactions, but the swifter use of mobile phones for payments with the Visa Europe system. These are “contactless transactions” where payment instructions are securely exchanged between a contactless EMV chip card and acceptance terminal using wireless communication technologies. You’ve had Wi-Fi for your PC, lap-top and then for your mobile phone. Well the Visa Europe system takes maximum advantage of these and makes your mobile a mini payment hot-spot when you want it to be.
It also will be a god-send when you next go abroad. No need to struggle with local currencies; 36 countries in Europe are using the system. It’s ideal for when you want to make a large number of relatively low value transactions, such as in restaurants, convenience stores, markets, transport terminals etc. They are also ideal for remote or unattended payment situations, such as vending machines, road tolls or parking meters.
The system is so simple and intuitive that even Granddad in the video has no problem with it, and finds it so convenient that he feels like a lad again! Just think- it’ll soon be possible for you to go out for a day with no money, no cards, just a mobile phone, and still have all your money at your fingertips. Feel the flow!