City National Bank is working with the
The Los Angeles-based bank says it is the first issuer of tokenized virtual Visa cards, which can be added to Google Pay and Apple Pay mobile wallets for secure, in-store contactless payments or online purchases.
"Two-thirds of consumers would prefer to use contactless payments as much as, or even more than, they currently are," Kevin Phalen, global head of Visa Business Solutions, said in a Friday press release, citing
“Our collaboration with City National Bank and Extend to bring Visa virtual card capabilities to their commercial clients delivers innovation that makes B2B payments as simple and effortless as consumer payments are today,” Phalen added.
The virtual Visa cards are available on demand, allowing City National's commercial card clients to instantly send virtual credit cards to employees, contractors and vendors with enhanced digital capabilities, distinct spending limits and expiration dates.
The process gives companies more oversight and control over how corporate cards are used, the bank said.
“Working with City National and Visa has been one of the most exciting opportunities of the last year,” Andrew Jamison, CEO and co-founder of Extend, said in the release. “This is a huge industry first. Until now, no one has been able to tokenize true virtual cards for mobile wallets, which brings virtual cards to the point of sale — a hurdle that has stood in the way of serious mass adoption."
New York-based Extend, founded in 2017, provides digital payment infrastructure for financial institutions in order to deliver modern cards to their services. Extend offers various digital products, including a suite of virtual card APIs, a digital corporate card app and card tokenization services.
“We’re all about providing our clients with state-of-the-art, efficient and secure payment solutions,” Linda Duncombe, executive vice president and chief marketing, product and digital officer of City National Bank, said in the release. “City National has a long history of serving our clients in new and innovative ways, and providing our clients with easy-to-use digital solutions for their payment challenges allows us to better support them — especially at a time when many are working remotely."
The new capability can support City National’s entertainment clients that have resumed production during the pandemic. Clients are now able to make contactless payments on set whenever possible, increasing safety by removing the need for petty cash.
City National banks more than 75% of business managers who manage the wealth of actors, directors, writers, musicians, athletes, producers and others in the entertainment business.
City National reports $75 billion in assets in providing banking, investment and trust services throughout the U.S. The bank operates as a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada.
