Peter Ayliffe, chief executive of Visa Europe, has predicted that “over half of all Visa transactions in Europe will be on a mobile device” by 2020.  The credit card giant will be launching mobile payments and its digital wallet in Europe this year. Ayliffe said the new services are a key part of its payments strategy in the future which he said "will revolutionise consumers' everyday shopping experience".  The prediction came as Visa Europe announced spending on its existing card services grew by 14 percent in 2011 despite economic uncertainty.

During 2011 Visa Europe made moves towards its future plans. It issued a total of 30 million contactless cards and launched its first mobile payment services which were person-to-person payments and text alerts in October 2011. It also invested in mobile payments provider Monitise as well as Beyond Analysis, a consumer insight group. This year Visa expects to see contactless cards hit 50 million in Europe and "the first launches of mobile phones enabled to make point-of-sale transactions". The card giant’s own digital wallet will launch in the second half of 2012.