Visa rolls out Tap to Phone digital payments; turning Android devices to payment acceptance machines

By Pavithra R

Visa announced the product availability of Tap to Phone in more than 15 markets with plans to expand to the U.S. and accelerate global product growth in the rest of the world via more than 35 new partners, including Visa Ready for Tap to Phone partners.

With the increasing migration towards digital payments amidst COVID-19, a simple mobile app can help worldwide sellers to quickly and securely accept contactless payments while improving the checkout experience for customers. Visa’s Tap to Phone is built on this idea and transforms current generation Android smartphones / tablets into contactless, or tap to pay, software-based point of sale (softPOS) terminals without any additional hardware.

As part of Visa’s commitment to digitally-enable 50 mn small and micro businesses, Tap to phone is expected to help businesses access the digital economy, prevent lost sales and improve cash flow by accepting contactless payments anywhere, anytime. The piloting of the tool last year witnessed an increase in the number of sellers by 200% and is now live in numerous countries across Europe, Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific and Latin America.

“It was just five years ago when Visa set out to enable virtually any IoT or mobile device to make payments and now today, we are enabling many of those same devices to accept payments in a very simple way with Visa Tap to Phone. With billions of phones around the world at the ready, the opportunity that comes with lighting them up as payment acceptance devices is enormous. Visa Tap to Phone could be one of the most profound ways to reinvent the physical shopping experience,” said Mary Kay Bowman, global head of buyer and seller solutions, Visa.

The workflow of Tap to Phone is as follows: Sellers need to download the app supported by their acquirer, and after registering & selecting their participating bank, they can start accepting contactless payments in just a few minutes. The tool is built on the top of the security of an EMV chip transaction, in which each transaction contains a dynamic cryptogram that cannot be reused.

“We always look for ways to improve our customer experience, from personalized service to ease of payment. That’s where Tap to Phone comes in. Customers are always curious and impressed when we process their payment using nothing but our mobile phone. 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, which makes them gain confidence in our brand,” said Karla Avila, founder of Extenclip in Costa Rica.

Recent launches for Tap to Phone include Malaysia, Peru, Russia, Belarus, and South Africa, with upcoming launches planned in Italy, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Brazil, and more.

Recently, Ternio became Visa’s Fast Track enablement partner.

Established since 1958, Visa is a global payments technology company working to enable consumers, businesses, banks, and governments to use digital currency. Its advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second.