Innovation

No point of sale? No problem. Accept payments with Visa Tap to Phone

App makes small-business selling easier by enabling payments on any NFC-enabled Android mobile device
10/21/2020

Research shows that nine out of ten small business owners in developing markets don’t take electronic payments.¹ Why? Going digital is not always easy and can require expensive hardware, accessories and setup to process payments.

That’s about to change. Visa’s Tap to Phone turns any NFC-enabled Android mobile device into a working point of sale or acceptance device. No additional tech needed. Sellers simply download an app and they can easily accept contactless payments in a secure, touchless and convenient experience for customers.

The technology is already available in 15 countries with plans to expand to the U.S. in 2021. These entrepreneurs are already putting it to good use.

Frankie Chen is owner and stylist of Senze Studio, a Hong Leong Bank Malaysia merchant. “Tap to Phone has not only addressed all our customers’ concerns about safe hygiene practices, including payments, but has also liberated us from dedicated and expensive hardware terminals and reduced our cost of operation,” he says.

Lucía Ramirez from Lucy Make Up in Trujillo, Perú, says “now, my clients just use their contactless cards with my mobile application, no need for a POS. Furthermore, my clients feel safe using this transaction technology, cash is avoided. By using this payment method we can all be safe."

“Customers are always curious and impressed when we process their payment using nothing but our mobile phone,” says Karla Avila, founder of Extenclip, which takes Tap to Phone in Costa Rica.

“Not only has Tap to Phone been helpful for our in-store sales, but we also use it for our contactless product deliveries, helping customers stay at home and pay with their cards until they receive their order, which makes them gain confidence in our brand,” she adds.

Illustration of woman smiling while using tap to phone with a male shop owner.

“Ready” to light up two billion devices

With two billion Android devices globally² and 180 million micro and small merchants around the world, Tap to Phone has a big opportunity to support commerce in a “new normal” where touchless payments are accelerating and less cash is changing hands.

Visa also is making it easier for device manufacturers, software developers, payment service providers, sellers and acquirers to build solutions that support Tap to Phone user experiences that comply with Visa’s high security standards. The Visa Ready for Tap to Phone certification program gives these players guidance and documentation, in just a few hours, to launch and scale the technology.

Visa is seeing strong interest in Tap to Phone around the globe with many launches in markets with high contactless penetration, including Canada, UK, Poland, Ukraine, Turkey, Belarus, Romania, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Malaysia and others.

With 200% growth of the number of Tap to Phone sellers over the past year and the potential to support millions of businesses around the globe, sellers, partners and consumers alike are tapping into the potential of digital payments like never before.