Visa changes e-wallet name, logo

Visa's e-wallet service will change its name and logo before going live early next year, as the credit card company enters e-commerce competition, Mobiledia reveals.

The company will use the name V.me to make it stand out from its other services, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The e-wallet service is designed to allow users to check out online purchases using just a username and password, rather than having to key in a credit card number.

Instead of typing in a 16-digit account number to complete a transaction from a smartphone, users can simply sign into the V.me digital wallet with a user name and password and buy something, CNET writes.

Visa's V.me will be generally available to the public in early 2012, according to the company. There are plenty of other e-wallets on the market, from eBay's PayPal to Amazon's one-click checkout.

In an effort to spur adoption of its new digital wallet, Visa also unveiled a new developer programme that will allow retailers, merchants, financial institutions, gaming developers and others to access its payment system.

Visa's vision for the V.me digital wallet is that it will be open, meaning consumers will be able to fund it using a variety of credit cards, not just Visa cards, and they'll be able to use it to pay for things anywhere, ZDNet states.

The idea behind creating the developer programme is that it will give these developers APIs and other tools that can help them create easier ways to accept and initiate payments on mobile phones.

For example, game developers may use the tools to create simpler in-game purchases. Big brand retailers like Target or Wal-Mart could use the tools to make it easier to purchase goods from their sites via a mobile phone.