Visa set out its plans for a wallet that stores Visa and non-Visa accounts, letting users pay online and in person through their PCs and mobile devices, last May.

The company is already working with several financial institutions and merchants in the US and Canada and is now ready to move into the European market, offering the service through its member banks.

In the UK, payments processor WorldPay has been signed up as a development partner with further collaborators in each market, including banks and retailers, to be announced "soon".

E-commerce already represents 22% of Visa Europe's transactions and grew 44% between 2009 and 2011. The V.me wallet is the firm's central tool in its battle for dominance in the online and mobile commerce markets, where it faces competition from a slew of rivals from the tech and telco worlds.

Mariano Dima, EVP, product and marketing solutions, Visa Europe, says: "V.me sits at the heart of Visa's future of payments...Our intention is that V.me will ultimately be able to incorporate any or all of our new payment technologies, allowing our members to deliver the best possible payments experience whether face-to-face, online or in a mobile environment."