Visa has introduced new capabilities across Visa Accept and Visa Direct, expanding how smartphones can be used to both accept and send digital payments. The new features are aimed at helping small businesses in emerging markets—from street vendors to online merchants—manage payments using devices they already own.
The company says the move reflects the growing role smartphones play in commerce, enabling merchants to accept customer payments, send payouts, and manage business transactions from a single device.
“Every tap, scan and swipe is now a defining moment in the customer relationship, and small businesses can’t afford for payments to get in the way,” said Shahebaz Khan, Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial and Money Movement Solutions for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Visa.
According to Visa’s Global SMB Macro Trends Report, 99% of surveyed small businesses already use at least one digital financial tool, while 85% say those tools have positively impacted their business. With an estimated 530 million of the world’s 1.3 billion unbanked adults already using smartphones, Visa sees significant potential to expand digital financial inclusion.
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