FOSTER CITY, Calif. - Visa announced last week a new program, Visa Ready Partner Program, that??s designed to drive the global migration from cash to electronic payments.

"The pace of innovation in the payments industry requires a new approach that ensures innovative payment methods can be tested, approved and commercialized quickly," said Jim McCarthy, global head of product at Visa Inc. "While it is critical that we ensure new payment methods are secure and reliable, it is equally important to allow great ideas to become new ways to pay and be paid."

The program will ensure that devices, software and solutions used to initiate or accept Visa payments are compatible with Visa??s requirements, which may vary by country. It also provides a framework for the collaboration with Visa, as well as guidance and best practices to access the Visa network.

For financial institutions and merchants, Visa says its new program will make it easier for them to adopt new, innovative payment methods that are approved by Visa and can help them drive business growth by expanding the use and acceptance of electronic payments globally. The program will use existing approval and certification processes from payments industry standards bodies and will rely on labs certified by EMVCo and the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SCC) to conduct testing of new payment solutions.

At launch, the Visa Ready Partner Program encompasses Visa??s existing program for the approval of mobile NFC-enabled devices, as well as a new program to enable mobile point-of-sale acceptance solutions that meet local requirements.