At Experian, one of our priorities is consumer credit and finance education. This post may contain links and references to one or more of our partners, but we provide an objective view to help you make the best decisions. For more information, see our Editorial Policy.
In this article:
Visa Checkout is a tool to help cardholders speed through the online checkout process at participating websites. Once you sign up for this service, you can pay for your purchases by just using your username and password, rather than entering in all of your credit card information.
How Visa Checkout Works
To use this service, you first need to sign up for a free Visa Checkout account. You'll start by entering your name, email address and country, and creating a password. After you've enrolled, you can enter the account information for your Visa credit cards. Once entered, you won't have to re-enter the information every time you make a purchase from a participating retailer.
When you are making a purchase from a participating online retailer, you'll see a small login screen for Visa Checkout. Instead of filling out all of your credit card account information, you can simply log in and choose the Visa card that you want to pay with, and it will populate your account information on the retailer's page. When you're using a mobile app, you have the option of using Visa Checkout within the retailer's app without the need to download a separate app.
Benefits of Using Visa Checkout
The best reason to use Visa Checkout is for the convenience. With this service, you can enter your credit card information once, and then use it every time you shop at online retailers that accept Visa cards. You can even enter multiple credit and debit cards, as long as they are part of the Visa payment network. As a result, you can save a significant amount of time completing many of your online transactions.
Another benefit is security. Visa Checkout offers a standard set of security protections that you can utilize, rather than relying on the safety of each retailer's website. Visa Checkout members can also receive special deals and other offers from online stores that accept it.
How Is Visa Checkout Different From a Virtual Credit Card?
A virtual credit card is a service offered by some credit card issuers that allows you to create a unique card number for an individual transaction. Each virtual credit card number can only be used once, eliminating the possibility of fraud if the number is compromised in any way. And while virtual credit card numbers can be useful, they are not the same as Visa Checkout. With Visa Checkout, you are using a traditional credit card number that Visa is storing securely for use in multiple transactions.
Where Can You Use Visa Checkout?
Many online stores offer Visa Checkout including stores that offer apparel, electronics, travel, food, entertainment and gifts. Popular participating retailers include Walmart, Best Buy, Walgreens, Marriott and Starbucks. You can view Visa's directory to see a full list of websites that currently accept Visa Checkout.
Online shopping is often more convenient than visiting a store, but it's not without its hassles. When you use Visa Checkout to input your credit card information, you can complete your purchases faster than you might have thought possible.