As Apple Pay Hits, Visa Signals Hopes To Be Mobile Payment Player

Apple CEO Tim Cook shows a Visa customer using Apple Pay at the tech company's reveal event earlier this month. Apple Pay will be compatible with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus which hit store tomorrow. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

The masses lining up to get their hands on Apple’s new iPhones Friday will also gain access to the tech company’s new payment platform — Apple Pay. Visa wants it known that as purchases go mobile it plans to maintain its spot in your pocket.

Thursday morning Visa V +0.42% announced that it is working with J.P. Morgan Securities to explore options for exiting its 5.5% stake inMonitise , an early leader in mobile payments. As the battle heats up among tech companies to define the burgeoning space, Visa plans to build out its internal mobile payments capabilities.

Visa first invested in Monitise in 2009, buying a 14.4% stake and entering into a platform development partnership. Back then it saw the young and relatively small British company as, “an early thought leader” that had “a vision of making mobile banking mainstream and extending that functionality to mobile payments,” said Bill Sheedy, Visa’s executive vice president of corporate strategy, in a statement.

Visa maintains that tapering off holdings over time is consistent with its investment practices and driven (at least partially) by Monitise impressive growth. Yet it is clearly no coincidence that the world’s largest payment card company is looking to unlock funds for its own mobile ventures as Apple’s platform is unleashed.

When Apple AAPL +0.21% announced Apple Pay earlier this month Visa announced its Visa Token Service would be compatible with the product. Tokens replace the payment information on plastic debit and credit card and are stored on your mobile device.

“Combining the trust, scale and security of Visa payments with Apple Pay will accelerate adoption of mobile payments,” said Visa CEO Charlie Scharf in a statement the day of the Apple Pay unveil. “We said from the beginning that token services would provide great new consumer and merchant experiences, and you’re seeing it today in our efforts with Apple, and there’s more to come.”


Visa’s stock did not move on the news but shares of Monitise, which trade on the London Stock Exchange, were down close 30% with about an hour and a half left in the European trading day.