Visa Turns Smartphones into Payment Hubs for Small Businesses in Emerging Markets

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.

Turning Smartphones into Card Terminals

Visa Accept enables merchants to turn their smartphones into payment terminals without additional hardware. Customers can pay by tapping their card or using a payment link, while merchants receive funds in near real time through their Visa debit or prepaid accounts.

The solution is designed to help small businesses improve cash flow. Visa’s research found that one in five SMBs experiences cash-flow shortages on a daily or monthly basis, while nearly 28% reported challenges accessing credit during the past year.

The platform also allows banks to enable eligible business customers to accept card payments directly through their existing banking apps, while buyers continue to benefit from Visa’s security and dispute protections.

Visa Accept is already available in more than 25 countries through banking partners including HNB in Sri Lanka, Banco Agromercantil de Guatemala, SACOMBANK and VPBank in Vietnam. The service is also set to launch soon with Co-op Bank in Kenya, Access Bank, Omni Bank and Universal Merchant Bank in Ghana. Visa expects millions of merchants worldwide to have access to the service by 2027.

Faster Payouts with Visa Direct

Visa is also expanding Visa Direct, its real-time money movement platform, to make it easier for small businesses to send payments using their smartphones.

Integrated into banking, fintech and business platforms, Visa Direct allows businesses to pay employees, contractors and delivery drivers, issue customer refunds and incentives, and transfer money across borders to eligible cards, bank accounts and digital wallets—all from the same device they use to receive payments.

By combining payment acceptance and payouts into a single mobile experience, Visa aims to simplify financial operations for small businesses while accelerating the adoption of digital commerce in emerging markets.

//Staff writer