Like their European counterparts, the new generation of cards, which will shortly be issued to customers of First USA, FleetBoston and Providian Financial, have both a magnetic stripe and onboard chipset, allowing backwards compatibility with mag stripe readers, as well as the new generation of smart card readers. Interestingly, Providian says its smart Visa card will be clear plastic and contains a computer chip that it says could eventually be used as a multi-function card for phone calls or electronic ticketing. Visa says that Smart Visa, as the program is known, plays an important role in Visa's ongoing programs to position the card system as the payment brand of choice. Visa says that, because of its smart Visa cards' use an open platform, it will be able to further collaborate with developers and member banks to offer new services in both the offline and online worlds. Al Banisch, Visa USA's senior vice president, said that, over the last five years, the evolution of the Internet and impact of e-commerce has generated an increased demand in the United States for payment products offering enhanced technology and applications.
Consumers expect new technologies, with time and convenience being of the utmost importance.