News
Voice Commerce becomes first UK Payments Institution to be accepted as a Principal Member of Visa Europe
Voice Commerce, the innovative financial services group, today announced that it has become the first Payments Institution (PI), under the Payments Services Directive (PSD), to become a Principal Member of Visa Europe. The membership means Voice Commerce can start providing its own payment services to businesses including acquiring payment transactions.
Part of the global Visa network, Visa Europe is an association made up of 4,147 European banks and financial institutions. Following the launch of the PSD in November 2009, Visa Europe confirmed that Payment Service Providers such as Voice Commerce, as defined in the PSD, would be eligible to apply to become members of Visa Europe. Subject to stringent risk management requirements and being capable of complying with Visa Europe’s operating regulations, the Voice Commerce application was approved by Visa Europe at the Board of Directors Meeting in February 2010.
Nick Ogden, CEO of the Voice Commerce Group, said: “We are thrilled that our application to become a Principal Member of Visa Europe has been successful. As a Payment Institution, Voice Commerce is regulated in exactly the same way as banks in relation to capital adequacy and regulatory responsibilities for payment services. Being granted Visa membership means we can further compete on an equal footing across Europe with our banking peers.
“Our next move will be to grow the business and bring fresh creativity to the industry using innovative payment services, including voice biometrics to authorise payments.”
About Voice Commerce Group
Many of the innovations and standards used in Internet and electronic payments since the emergence of the commercial Internet in 1994 were developed by the team at Voice Commerce Group, including inventing the internet Payments Guarantee Solution to protect businesses and cardholders from fraud.
Voice Commerce is authorised by UK Financial services Authority under the European Commission Payment Service Directive, and regulated in the provision of e-money services, and maintain appropriate financial capital adequacy. Voice Commerce is a Principal Member, or, has contractual service relationships with all the principal Card Schemes, and its operational services are delivered to the PCI DSS Level 1 standard.
Either directly, or through an extensive range of relationships, Voice Commerce Group financial services and innovative payment solutions are available globally, but excluding OFAC listed countries.
The Voice Commerce Group was founded by Nick Ogden, who founded WorldPay in 1997 and who is recognised as a leading internet pioneer.
For further information please visit www.voice-commerce-group.com