Visa DirectExchange is intended to be the biggest private network in the world for on-line payment and its developers claim it will be able to process $60 million worth of payments per hour.
The companies involved predict that the network will deal with over 100 million transactions per year, but it will only be available to US credit and debit card holders.
The system will also be designed to allow customers to use other forms of electronic payment including mobile phones and personal digital assistants.
Another similar venture was recently announced by Citigroup Inc. which is working in conjunction with America Online Inc. to develop internet facilities for selling financial services and simplifying on-line payment.