In May the card giant 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.

The company is already working with banks and merchants in the US and Canada, launching an invitation-only beta for the wallet ahead of a full roll-out next year.

Now Visa has also moved to get the increasingly lucrative and powerful development community on-board, launching an open beta developer programme, which will initially be just for online payment applications.

Developers who sign up get access to the centre's APIs, sandbox and documentation, helping them to integrate V.me payments with their apps.