Visa Europe has announced that V.me, its digital wallet service, is now live in France, Poland, Spain and the UK.

The UK’s Nationwide building society made its own launch announcement today, claiming to be the first financial institution in the UK to offer V.me.

BPCE and LCL, issuers in France, are on board with Visa’s digital wallet. ING Bank Slaski is running a pilot in Poland.

Visa adds that multiple V.me pilots are underway in Spain.

The payments platform provider says other major issuers will launch soon in all four markets.

This is the first stage of a pan-European launch, claims Visa.

V.me customers can access more than 1,400 merchants online. Soon-to-launch retailers, says Visa, include Universal Music in the UK, and Allopneus, Aquarelle, Brandalley, Leclerc Drive, Made.com and Pecheur.com in France.

Visa has set the target of up to 4,000 merchants accepting V.me by January 2014.

“V.me by Visa gives merchants and issuers an acceptance mark that will work across Europe,” said Steve Perry, Chief Commercial Officer at Visa Europe.