From July 2003, banks within the Eurozone will no longer be able
to charge more for low value (below €12,500) EU cross-border
transfers than they do for domestic transfers. Visa claims that its
new service, to be known as Visa Direct, will provide member banks
with a ready-made, low-cost means of complying with the new
regulations.
According to the company, the participating banks will not need
to develop additional software, because Visa Direct can plug into
their already existing IT systems. The technology behind the
service is provided by software firm Clear2Pay.
Visa said in a statement that its new service allows customers
to transfer money in all major currencies straight to the
beneficiary's account, with the sender only needing to know the
recipient's e-mail address.
Visa Direct will initially be open to any Visa EU cardholder,
but it will be widened to other Visa regions and payment schemes in
the future.
The company also said that Visa Direct has an extensive fraud
and anti-money laundering capability built in to the system to
comply with EU and domestic money laundering regulations.
