KARACHI: In a major push for digital payments, Visa has transformed smartphones into payment terminals for small businesses, enabling merchants to accept and send digital payments using the devices they already own.
Visa has unveiled new capabilities for Visa Accept and Visa Direct, enabling smartphones to seamlessly accept and send digital payments. The enhancements aim to help small businesses in emerging markets, from street vendors to online merchants, manage payments using the devices they already own.
Visa Accept turns a smartphone into a card terminal, allowing a micro seller to accept card payments through their Visa debit or prepaid account, with no extra hardware needed. Buyers can tap to pay or pay by link, and funds can reach the seller’s account in near real-time, with the security, reliability and dispute protections expected from Visa card payments.
For Small and Medium Business (SMBs) managing tight cash flow, speed matters: Visa’s Global SMB Macro Trends Report found that 1 in 5 surveyed SMBs face cash-flow gaps daily or monthly, while nearly 28 percent reported issues using or applying for credit or borrowing tools in the last 12 months.
“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.
“We see a future where a single smartphone is all a seller needs to accept any way customers want to pay, gain powerful insights and confidently run their business, so they can spend less time on payment friction and more time creating the experiences that keep customers coming back” he added.
As more commerce moves to smartphones, small businesses need simple ways to accept the payments customers use, from cards and digital wallets. Visa is helping turn the smartphone into a hub for SMB commerce, combining acceptance, payouts, and customer interactions in one device.
Visa’s Global SMB Macro Trends Report found that 99 percent of surveyed SMBs use at least one digital finance tool, and 85 percent say at least one has helped their business. With 530 million of the world’s 1.3 billion unbanked adults already using smartphones, the opportunity to expand digital access is significant.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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