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Time to rethink payments strategies for 2023 (again)

New year, new paths to chart. As the world reopens, businesses and payment providers will face intense competition for attention and spend, amidst a backdrop of economic uncertainty. Moving into 2023, here are five trends in Asia Pacific’s payments landscape we’re watching closely.

1.       Help small businesses go big

As ecommerce grows, small businesses must tap on the tools benefiting their larger peers or risk falling behind. It’s not just about setting up an online storefront anymore. Larger retailers will continue innovating with unmanned checkouts, self-pick-up options and payment methods that enhance the shopping experience.

To start, small businesses must increase digital payment acceptance and authorisation rates. It’s equally important to adapt to new shopping habits, such as such as livestreaming, and social commerce.

2.       Bridge a fragmented landscape

The proliferation of contactless payments, mobile wallets, QR-based payments, account-to-account transfers, and buy-now-pay-later schemes have provided consumers with many options to pay. Adding to the digital payments pie are key developments in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) across the region, with Greater China and India leading the charge in piloting their retail CBDCs this year. However, these options will become increasingly disparate, as many providers operate in closed-loop systems.

This fragmentation will hit small businesses hardest, as they grapple with which payment option to offer. The ease, availability, and security of the payment technology remain as shopper’s main deciding factors. Shoppers are most likely to abandon their carts if they are unable to use their desired payment options.

Interoperability is key to closing the gaps, allowing consumers and merchants from different markets and payment schemes, to do business seamlessly around the world.

3.       Jump aboard the rise of contactless transit

Mobile contactless payments will grow in popularity across Asia Pacific, fueled by uptick of digital wallet launches in Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. We see transit as the gateway to drive contactless penetration deeper.

In our experience, consumers who start using contactless payments for their commutes, will begin to do so at nearby retail such as newsstands and convenience stores, and then into supermarkets and restaurants. At Visa we implemented more than 40 new transit projects in Asia Pacific in 2022, with more to come in 2023.

4.       Fraud becomes more sophisticated

The digital commerce environment in 2023 will remain the richest target for cybercriminals, led by well-funded criminal enterprises that can attack at scale compared to individual actors in the past. In markets such as Australia, governments are running specialised cybersecurity taskforces at an intensity never seen before.

Tokenisation remains a key pillar of defense against fraudsters, enabling businesses to authenticate transactions with more accuracy while guarding consumer data. When transactions are tokenised, fraud rates decrease by 28 percent and approval rates increase by three percent. As tokenisation is being adopted at scale as we have seen in India, everyone in the ecosystem benefits, including consumers, businesses, issuers, acquirers and fintechs.

5.       The move to open data is closer than ever

Australia has long led the open banking movement in Asia Pacific, but the rest of the region is catching up. Central banks in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore are making strides in developing open data frameworks that will shape the future of open banking, fresh off the heels of digital banks that launched in 2022.  

These frameworks pave the way for future data-sharing between banking and non-banking organisations, which has huge potential to give consumers greater access to financial services. As data partnerships increase, more financial institutions will embed their services, such as credit and installments solutions, into consumer-facing marketplaces and super-apps.

This move also brings renewed focus on data privacy and protection. A Visa study found more than 80 percent of consumers expressing concerns over the privacy of their data shared between organisations. As businesses create personalised experiences and consumer journeys backed by open data, success will also depend on trust that must be progressively built with consumers.

In 2023, businesses will see fresh opportunities in the open digital economy, coupled with the need to combat new types of fraud and to help small businesses catch up with their larger peers. Consumers will have more ways to pay, yet the payments landscape will become more fragmented, making interoperability a key focus area for ecosystem players to collaborate on.

As we enter an exciting year, now more than ever is the time for businesses to re-examine their operations and rethink their business and payments strategies.

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Are physical wallets on borrowed time?

Physical wallets used to be an indispensable accessory that housed essentials such as identification cards, credit/debit cards, travel cards, cash and in some cases even passport photos. Without a physical wallet, you couldn’t get around or pay for anything.

Fast forward to the last few years, we saw a large shift towards cashless payments. Amid the pandemic, payment trends we once thought were far in the future have accelerated – and they are now here to stay. Consumers are rapidly embracing contactless payments, tapping their cards and mobile phones on merchant terminals instead of rifling through paper notes or counting change.

Contactless payments drive 53 percent of face-to-face Visa transactions in the region[1], and seven out of 10 Southeast Asian consumers (70%) have gone fully cashless for a week or longer. [2] Mobile contactless is driving further adoption with the total number of unique contactless mobile payment users forecasted to reach 1 billion globally by 2024 from 782 million in 2022, representing a growth of 60%.[3] All of these statistics converge to a key point – that the next phase of growth will be driven by mobile. Mobile contactless will drive volume over plastic cards and it is now the base standard buyers and sellers need to meet.

At Visa, we are excited by the recent launch of Google Wallet in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, which will spur further adoption of mobile contactless payments in these markets. Visa cardholders can store their credit and debit cards on Google Wallet and start making fast, convenient and frictionless payments on their Android or WearOS devices.

The Google Wallet ensures that payments are safe and secure by using tokens, a temporary alias for actual account numbers that keeps cardholder account information safe and is created when a card is added to Google Wallet or the respective banking app. Consumer data is kept private as the tokenised account number is shared with merchants, instead of the actual account number.

Visa will continue to use the diverse capabilities of our network to enable individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Working together with our strategic partners, we will continue to build the future of payments, making innovative experiences accessible to all, powering lifestyles and businesses around the world.

[1] VisaNet data, September 2022

[2] Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study 2022

[3] Contactless payments: key opportunities, emerging trends & market forecasts 2022-2027

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Visa invites Asia Pacific’s top startups to shape the future of payments

Visa is today announcing an open call for startups across Asia Pacific to apply for the Visa Accelerator Program 2023. Now in its third year, the Visa Accelerator Program selects a small group of startups to collaborate on some of the most pressing challenges in the payments industry. The 2023 program will focus on developing solutions in the following areas: Web 3.0, global money movement, embedded finance, merchant and small business enablers, and open banking solutions.

The Visa Accelerator Program was launched in 2019 and has since enabled the growth of some of Asia Pacific’s most prominent startups. The five startups from the 2022 cohort presented their proof-of-concepts at the Visa Accelerator Spotlight event, after working with Visa product and business development teams to bring their concepts to life and expand their businesses into new markets across the region.

Startups from the 2021 and 2022 cohorts secured nine commercial deals with Visa’s clients and partners in Asia Pacific. Additionally, Visa has entered into six partnership and commercial agreements with selected startups, emphasising the value that startups can bring to the larger payments industry.

Chris Clark, President, Asia Pacific, Visa said, “It is exciting to see great products co-developed by the successful startups from the previous cohorts, who have also become our valued partners. Expectations are high as we recruit for the third cohort, because we want to continue bringing the best startups across the region into Visa’s payments network. We’re looking forward to seeing applications from all around Asia Pacific for the 2023 Accelerator Program.”  

To tap into the best of the Asia Pacific startup community, Visa is partnering with Plug & Play, one of the world's most successful global innovation platforms.  Plug & Play will be a key strategic partner and will curate access to emerging fintech-focused startups for the Visa Accelerator Program 2023. Plug & Play will bring their expertise as a highly successful investor and their experience working with other major corporate accelerator programs, to identify, attract and accelerate startups who want to solve industry challenges and scale new technologies.

Jupe Tan, Managing Partner of Plug & Play APAC said, “We are delighted to be working on the Visa Accelerator Program. Our goal is to provide a line-of-sight into the most innovative fintech startups that are shaping the financial services industry across Asia Pacific, as well as enable successful proof-of-concept engagements between the finalised startups and Visa.”

Clark added, “Our partnership with Plug & Play will connect Visa with like-minded fintechs that share our common goal to build new digital commerce experiences together. From exploring the potential of new developments like Web 3.0 and embedded finance, to making it easier for businesses to move money around the world, there are so many opportunities for startups to work with Visa and our network of bank and merchant partners.”

Join the program

Applications for the Visa Accelerator Program 2023 are now open and will close 10 January 2023. The program is the right fit for startups that are at Series A and above, have a long-term commitment to Asia Pacific growth and existing operations in the region, and have a market-validated, proven solution. The six-month program will allow selected startups to work together with Visa’s payment experts, product architects and business development teams to rapidly co-develop, test, and iterate solutions, while pursuing tangible go-to-market opportunities with Visa’s extensive network of financial institutions, merchants and digital partners. For more information, including how to apply, visit: https://www.visa.com.sg/apaccelerator

APPENDIX

Proof-of-concept overview and selection of quotes from the startups of the Visa Accelerator Program 2022:

Cymonz, Moneytree, Perfios, TallyKhata and TripleA.

Cymonz

Proof-of-concept: Cymonz is partnering with Visa to simplify international payments by enabling a unified end-to-end payments-as-a-service platform.

“Overall, the program has been fantastic. The team at Visa has been very committed and instrumental in making the partnership a success and many doors have been opened by Visa, which created commercial opportunities to help us grow our company in the region.”

- Simon Lynch, Founder of Cymonz

Moneytree

Proof-of-concept: Moneytree and Visa are partnering to provide financial institutions access to a wealth of data and insights for better and faster credit decisions.

"Collaborating with Visa’s product, design and sales experts, we jointly solutioned a Minimum Viable Product, and rapidly validated market fit utilising Minimal Viable Testing, all within a short span of six months."

- Paul Chapman, Chief Executive and Founder, Moneytree

Perfios

Proof-of-concept: Perfios’s automated credit assessment and underwriting solution for small business loans allows plug and play card programs for instant disbursement of financing on Visa credentials.

“It was an amazing journey with great traction between Visa and us. The highly structured process of the program ensured clear objectives for every meeting and helped us build, validate and take our product to market within a very short span of time.“

- Sandesh Jayarama, Vice President of New Business Initiatives, Perfios

TallyKhata

Proof-of-concept: TallyKhata and Visa are enabling small business financing by leveraging TallyKhata’s merchant platform and data and Visa credentials for supplier payments and business expenses.

“The partnership with Visa was very impactful, from the structured approach towards solutioning to client engagement. In six months, we went from a proof-of-concept to a commercially tested product. The access to Visa leadership and product expertise along with client relationships for joint go-to-market helped us establish strong credibility.“

- Shahadat Khan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, TallyKhata

TripleA

Proof-of-concept: TripleA and Visa are partnering to offer financial institutions, merchants and marketplaces innovative crypto solutions for customer engagement.

“The program really exceeded expectations with the drive and approach from Visa teams to support our product and go-to-market efforts. We won three significant client deals through the Visa Accelerator Program, which would not be possible without Visa. It made a difference in our growth!”

- Eric Barbier, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, TripleA

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Lessons from the payments industry for the sharing and movement of data

Data provides a powerful reflection of a person’s unique habits, behaviours, interests and lifestyles. Every time a person makes an online purchase, browses through social media platforms, or searches for information and directions online, a unique data footprint is created.

Businesses and governments around the world are already applying ‘big data’ to improve digital experiences and information for consumers. Consumers get personalised advertisements and notifications on our smartphones based on their digital activities. At the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, many governments used smartphone-based location services to alert citizens who had been in close contact with Covid-positive individuals.

In theory, greater value is created when data sets from different platforms are combined to form a holistic picture of a person’s unique needs and expectations. Yet in reality, data sets tend to be fragmented as they come from different sources. Many organisations face the challenge of where to get data, what kind of data to get and how to make sense of it, as well as how to comply with privacy laws governing data collection, use and transfer of such data. There is still a lot to be done before data sharing and movement can thrive.

There are key lessons to be drawn from Visa’s six decade-long experience in moving money as the industry builds a strong foundation for effective data movement. In 2021, Visa processed 165 billion transactions worth $10.4 trillion on its network. This was possible through its continuous investment in infrastructure, security and its strong partnerships with ecosystem players including banks, fintechs and merchants.

Visa believes data sharing and movement must be secure, reliable and efficient - as it is for payments.

To achieve this, there are three key considerations:

First, interoperable standards would greatly facilitate data sharing between companies and data movement and across borders. A common language is needed to bring consistency to the way different parties share their data so it will be easier for them to participate in the data economy. Visa’s global, interoperable standards for payments have enabled consumers and merchants to make and receive payments using multiple currencies, channels, or form factors. Interoperable standards has always been an important foundation for the industry as a whole to deliver commerce innovations at scale.

Second is safety and security. Data is an asset that must be stored, protected and moved in the same secure way as money. Visa invests heavily in ensuring and enhancing the security of every payment. Leveraging AI and data-driven solutions, Visa prevented approximately US$26 billion of losses from fraud annually[1]. Its experience in payments security shows consumers will be far more likely to share their data if they trust the process to be safe and secure.

Third, it is important to place the consumer journey at the heart of data sharing. Consumers are only willing for companies to share their data if they see tangible benefits and have enhanced experiences, especially as they become more attentive to how their data is used. The SG FinDex in Singapore is a good example of how data sharing benefits consumers. A one-stop platform was developed for individuals to access their financial information held by different government agencies and financial institutions, giving them a better understanding of their overall financial health and holistic financial planning.

A robust consent management approach is also important to the data sharing journey for consumers. Based on Visa’s research, clarity and control is key to building consumer trust in the data sharing process. Consumers want to know what kind of data is being shared and with whom. Importantly, they want to be able to choose whether to ‘opt-in’ every time their personal data is used beyond the original purposes that they signed up for.  

While there is still a long way to go in facilitating greater data sharing and movement in Asia Pacific, Visa’s experience with moving money shows a strong foundation needs to be built to accelerate the growth of the data economy. Today, Visa is starting to play a substantial role in shaping the future of the data sharing ecosystem. Through programs such as the Asia Pacific Visa Accelerator Program[2], Fintech Partner Connect[3] and its ongoing venture investments, Visa actively invites ecosystem players to collaborate to drive the growth of data sharing and movement across the region and beyond.

[1] Visa Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Report

[2] Visa’s Accelerator program in Asia Pacific is designed for entrepreneurs to quickly test and validate partnership opportunities through an accelerated Proof of Concept (POC) over the course of 4-6 months. https://www.visa.com.sg/visa-everywhere/innovation/apaccelerator.html

[3] Fintech Partner Connect is designed to enable Visa’s issuing clients in Asia Pacific to access and complement Visa’s suite of value-added services, connect to next-generation fintech platforms across the digital account journey, and work on solutions including digital onboarding, card management, security and compliance, loyalty and rewards, personal finance management and data and API services. https://partner.visa.com/site/programs/fintech-partner-connect.html

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A More Carbon Neutral Way to Shop

Consider the carbon impact of the average grocery list. Each item on it represents a quantity of energy and resources used in production, processing, and packaging. Then factor in the mileage and fuel used in bringing these products from farm or factory to shop, and from the shop to stove and table. Finally, post-consumption, how much can be reused or recycled – or only simply discarded?

In a recent survey of Asia Pacific consumers, 78% said they are more likely to make environmentally friendly purchases if they can see their carbon footprint. 68% of them expect their bank to offer eco-friendly payment solutions, and over half (52%) would switch banks to access a product or service that helps them understand the carbon footprint of their spending.

While it is possible to minimise one’s carbon footprint by making informed, ethical choices, consumers are aware of measures that can help mitigate it altogether – through carbon offsetting.

Here’s where Visa’s Eco Benefits suite of sustainability-focused features can help. Through their banks, Asia Pacific Visa users will be able to access a “carbon footprint calculator” within their banking app. Developed by fintech innovator Verrency, the calculator estimates the carbon footprint generated in each purchase. Choosing from a range of specifically curated projects, Visa users can then elect to offset their carbon footprint by donating to an environmental organization or to areas such as forestry and clean energy.

By enabling banks to seamlessly integrate a suite of eco-positive features into its transaction banking, Visa empowers consumers across Asia Pacific to make informed, sustainable choices – and offset carbon impact, on the spot, effortlessly.

The Visa Eco Benefits product suite will enable banks to empower Visa users by providing data to know and understand their personal carbon impact. The product suite will also provide options for a low impact way for consumers to act and offset their environmental impact by supporting carbon offset projects in areas that are relevant to them.

Here's how it works:

Visa users will be able to access a transactional Carbon Impact Index and Calculator that determines the CO2 impact of each card purchase through their banking app. The app will then provide them the ability to automatically offset the carbon that is generated from the purchase transaction by donating the equivalent carbon offset credits to a carbon offset project of their choice.

Knowing and understanding the impact of a Visa user’s consumption:

A Visa user makes a purchase using their physical or digital Visa card (also known as a Visa credential).

Through the banking app, Visa’s Eco Benefits product suite will use leading independent data sets adjusted for both location and lifestyle choices.

The consumer can then see their carbon footprint by category over a month (or longer).

The consumer will be able to drill down and see their impact from each individual transaction. They can also compare their impact to the community.

Taking Action & Offsetting

The Visa user can choose to offset individual transactions listed in their banking app.

Or nominate a monthly limit on offsets.

They will be shown where their offset donation will be sent or choose their own investment area.

Regular spends can also be paired with weekly offsets, automatically purchased.

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Finastra and Visa announce global BaaS offering integrating Visa Direct

New service will enable thousands of banks and financial institutions to offer faster cross-border payouts for their customers via Visa Direct.

Finastra and Visa today announced a Banking as a Service (BaaS) collaboration to co-develop new functionality on its Payments Hub solutions and implement Visa Direct[1] – which provides access to more than two billion accounts through push to account offerings. The new capability will give Finastra’s bank customers around the world access to cross-border payouts capabilities for small- and medium-sized businesses, and individuals, in multiple currencies and countries.

“This BaaS partnership will allow banks to offer their customers greater choice in how to route cross-border payments, with banks essentially embedding Visa products,” said Barry Rodrigues, EVP Payments Business Unit at Finastra. “We are excited to partner on this proposition with Visa as it provides a very attractive solution for banks seeking to help increase overall customer satisfaction and loyalty through a transparent and cost-effective digital payments option.”

Deploying a custom-built cross-border payment solution in the current environment could be both expensive and time-consuming. The out-of-the-box processing capability offered by Finastra’s Payments Hub solutions, enabled by Visa Direct and available on premises or in the cloud as SaaS, will enable banks to bypass these complexities with an integration to the Visa network through Finastra’s FusionFabric.cloud open development platform. They will be able to offer quick, low cost payments for their customers, with great transparency.

“Innovation in cross-border money movement is accelerating at an incredible pace and banks are under pressure to quickly implement and launch programs for their customers that stay ahead of their expectations,” said Ruben Salazar Genovez, SVP, Global Head of Visa Direct. “We are excited to partner with Finastra to support the enablement of their bank customers worldwide with simple access to Visa Direct. Together, we are bringing benefits of our global network to thousands of banks globally, providing a wide range of new and existing case studies to clients.”

Visit us at Sibos this year – Visa booth #C33 and Finastra booth #E57.

[1] Visa Direct capability enabled through Finastra’s financial institution partner

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Visa launching eco-friendly payment solutions in Asia Pacific

New Visa Eco Benefits help cardholders understand the environmental impact of their payment transactions

Over half of consumers in Asia Pacific would switch banks for products that help them calculate their carbon footprint

Visa, a world leader in digital payments, today announced the launch of Visa Eco Benefits in Asia Pacific. Eco Benefits is a suite of sustainability-focused solutions that will help Visa cardholders across the region better understand the environmental impact of their day-to-day payments. They can calculate the carbon footprint generated by their Visa transactions, and access options for carbon offsetting or charitable donations from their bank’s website or app.

Banks in Asia Pacific that sign up for Eco Benefits will be able to offer these solutions to their Visa cardholders and meet a growing demand for sustainable financial services. According to a new Visa/YouGov survey, 66 per cent of consumers in Asia Pacific expect their bank to offer eco-friendly payment solutions. Over half (52 per cent) would switch banks in order to access a product or service that helps them understand the carbon footprint of their spending.

“The majority (78 per cent) of people in Asia Pacific said they are more likely to make more environmentally friendly purchases if they’re able to see their carbon footprint and take steps to change their spending habits,” said Chris Clark, president, Asia Pacific, Visa. “Our bank and fintech partners across the region can now add these sustainability features to existing Visa cards. Eco Benefits is another way that Visa is expanding our network beyond payment transactions to deliver more insights to our partners and their customers.”  

The following solutions are included in Visa Eco Benefits:

Carbon footprint calculator: insights powered by Verrency for cardholders to understand the estimated carbon footprint generated by their purchases

Carbon offsets: cardholders can elect to offset their carbon footprint from a range of specially curated projects in areas such as forestry and clean energy

Charitable contributions: donations to environmental organisations can be triggered when Visa cards are used

Card materials: physical payment cards made from sustainable materials

Personalised education: cardholders can access personalised tips and education on sustainable consumption

“Consumer household expenditure - the products and services we purchase every day - is a major contributor of global greenhouse gas emissions[1],” said Jeroen van Son, global CEO of Verrency. “That gives us as consumers a phenomenal opportunity to address climate change by off-setting the carbon footprint of our day-to-day behaviour and start to live a carbon neutral life. Up until now, customers did not have any convenient tools to take decisive action to offset their carbon footprint. Verrency’s Carbon Action Index changes that. From now on, consumers can choose to live a carbon neutral life, just by using their Visa card as they do today.”

Visa Eco Benefits is a continuation of Visa’s global aspiration to be a climate positive company, using its products, services, data, network and brand to drive sustainable commerce and support the transition to a low-carbon economy. In 2021, Visa announced a pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2040, ten years ahead of the Paris Climate Agreement goal.

For more information on Visa’s commitment to sustainability, visit visa.com/ESG

About the Visa/YouGov study

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Singapore Pte Ltd. Total sample size was 14,356 adults across 14 markets. Fieldwork was undertaken between 23 June – 5 July 2022. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all adults (aged 18+) nationally in each of the respective markets. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all adults (aged 18+) nationally in each of the respective markets. The survey was conducted in the following markets: Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

[1] Columbia Climate School, “How Buying Stuff Drives Climate Change” December 2020

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More commuters on board with contactless ways to pay

New Visa survey finds digital payments are reshaping public transit experiences and expectations

In cities across the globe, people are venturing out again after a more than two-year hiatus. Public transit has always been a vital part of how people get to work or school, run errands, and travel to leisure activities. But the pandemic has pushed many riders to challenge the status quo when it comes to how they pay their fares.

The speed, security, and ease of digital payments have helped shift global consumers’ payment preferences. Visa’s second Future of Urban Mobility Survey found that 91 percent of those surveyed either strongly or somewhat expect contactless payment options to be available on public transit. Nearly half (45 percent) of respondents prefer to pay for transit using contactless payments.1

Among employed riders, 62 percent said they take public transit at least three times a week, and 28 percent ride five times a week or more. 1 Just under half (42 percent) of those surveyed plan to use transit more often over the next 12 months. 1 As ridership continues to ramp up, it will be important that paying to ride is secure and seamless.

Including more riders with a more dynamic fare experience

Payment options such as fare-capping represent an important opportunity for transit operators to serve as many riders as possible. Fare capping limits how much a rider pays for their total rides in a day, week, or month, eliminating the need to tie up funds on a monthly pass or transit-dedicated card. Among survey respondents, 61 percent said that capped fares would encourage them to take public transit more often than a non-fare capped system. 1

43 percent of riders rank faster journey times as a top motivator that would encourage them to use transit more often. 1 Fare capping can help speed up the boarding process by alleviating confusion over how to pay for newer riders.

Keeping it sustainable

Why do riders prefer public transit? Of those surveyed, 88 percent said that sustainability and the environment were a factor in how often they decide to travel by transit, and it was the top reason for more than one in three riders (34 percent). 1

Improving the global transit experience

Open transit systems help city residents sustain their livelihoods, connect to services and pursue activities that create a vibrant city life. Visa supports global transit operators to deliver digital tools to draw in more passengers and improve the overall experience. Visa and our transit partners have recently rolled out new projects worldwide, from Thailand to Japan to Mexico and beyond, to enable riders to simply tap their contactless credit, debit, prepaid card, or payment-enabled device, without needing to purchase or load a separate transit card or handle cash while boarding.

To learn more about Visa’s global urban mobility initiatives, please visit Visa’s Global Urban Mobility page.

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Visa to Fast Track Digital Acceptance for Small Businesses in Asia Pacific

New partner program to help small businesses in Asia Pacific accept digital payments in minutes

Small businesses are the backbone of economies across Asia Pacific, making up over 90% of all businesses and providing more than 60% of jobs. [1] As the world has shifted further to digital across all aspects of commerce, small businesses (SMBs) have had to adapt, from selling online, digitising their supply chain and vendor payments, and accepting digital payments from customers. According to the 2022 Visa Global Back to Business Study, 90 percent of small businesses surveyed with a digital presence, attributed their pandemic survival to e-commerce. [2]

To accelerate the digital growth of small businesses in Asia Pacific, Visa is announcing the launch of the Acceptance Fast Track Program. Under the new program, small businesses will be able to begin accepting digital payments in a matter of minutes, thanks to new Visa solutions, onboarding processes and program participants (acquirers and payment facilitators).

“Small businesses in Asia Pacific have often been ahead of the curve when it comes to embracing new technology,” said Neil Mumm, Head of Merchant Sales & Acquiring, Visa, Asia Pacific. “Over the past two years we’ve seen that trend accelerate across every facet of running a business, from a bicycle shop in Vietnam to pop-up stores and street vendors in Hong Kong, all enabling cashless payments. While SMBs are grappling with so much change, we want payments to be the easy part. That’s why, together with our partners, we’re making it faster and simpler to get plugged into Visa’s global network.”

Who can participate?

The Acceptance Fast Track Program, open to payment facilitators and acquirers across the region, will help small businesses provide digital payment options through a holistic set of tools targeted at serving the SMB segment.

How will faster digitisation help?

Enabling digital payments with Visa will help small businesses boost revenue and increase efficiency

Customers can enjoy a seamless checkout experience and be assured of safe, reliable transactions

Based on our observations, paying digitally results in sticky customers. For example, tapping to pay drives nearly 4x more transactions and nearly 2x higher spend than non tap-to-pay, and most of the increase comes from habitual everyday spend categories like grocery, convenience stores and transit [3]

What’s new for small businesses?

Partnering with Visa and participating Enablers, program participants will be able to onboard small businesses by providing:

Access to new acceptance solutions from Visa, like the Tap to Phone terminals in Asia Pacific that turn merchants’ smartphones to payment acceptance devices

eCommerce payment capabilities for merchants and small businesses

Contactless payment acceptance capabilities

Improved time to enablement via the underwriting and merchant credit scoring tools like Visa’s Rapid Seller Onboarding that are being deployed by Visa partners

 What’s new for acceptance enablers?

The Acceptance Fast Track program will provide acceptance enablers like acquirers and payment facilitators with support including:

Special rebates for deploying new acceptance solutions such as Tap to Phone, Rapid Seller Onboarding and dispute resolution solution Verifi

Tools to track merchant onboarding

Access to a payments hub with specially curated resources

Dedicated Visa support

Launch Partners

Current partners on the Acceptance Fast Track program include:

 Allinpay: FinTech company providing integrated payment solutions in Singapore

 Ambank: financial services group in Malaysia

eGHL: online payment gateway operating in Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Australia

NextPay: leading payment facilitator in Vietnam

OxPay: integrated payments solution provider in Singapore

PayMongo: online payment processor in the Philippines

YedPay: payments solutions provider in Hong Kong

WebXPay: online payment gateway in Sri Lanka

Payment facilitators and acquirers can express their interest to join Acceptance Fast Track Program here.

[1] How Can Asia Reignite Its SME Growth Engine through Trade?

[2] Going digital key to small business success

[3] Visa Investor Day 2020

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Visa unveils five startups in 2022 cohort of its accelerator program

Visa, the world leader in digital payments, has selected five startups to join the 2022 cohort of its Visa Accelerator Program in Asia Pacific: Cymonz, Moneytree, Perfios, TallyKhata and TripleA.

Over the next six months, the startups will work closely with Visa on creating defined commercial opportunities they can bring to Visa’s extensive network of bank, merchant, government and venture partners.

“Through the Accelerator Program, Visa supports the startup community by giving them a leg up in one of their key challenges, which is expanding their footprint beyond their home market and into the region. By combining Visa’s capabilities and the reach of our global network with the ingenuity of the startups, we can create new innovative experiences at scale,” said Chris Clark, president, Asia Pacific, Visa. “Globally, nearly 30 percent more fintechs issued Visa credentials in the last year, and they nearly doubled their payments volume[1]. Together, we can help bring more individuals and businesses into the digital economy.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the world’s migration towards a digital-first future, the 2022 cohort will tackle some of the most pressing financial and technological issues that came to prominence in recent years:

Cymonz, an international payments and currency exchange platform based in New Zealand, will  simplify and expand money movement to enable new ways to pay and be paid

Moneytree,  a financial data aggregation platform based in Japan and Perfios, an India-based fintech that specialises in data aggregation and analytics, will leverage the growing open data environment in Asia Pacific to drive enhanced decision making in areas such as risk and credit

TallyKhata, a leading digital payments platform for small and micro-businesses in Bangladesh, will support financial inclusion by developing new ways for small businesses to access credit lines and working capital

TripleA, a Singaporean startup that offers white-label crypto currency solutions, will work on new payment innovations involving the use of digital currencies and blockchain technology

Visa introduced the Accelerator Program in Asia Pacific in December 2020. Designed for startups that have launched successful solutions in their home markets and are looking towards their next stage of growth, the program is ideal for growth-stage fintechs that are Series A and above, have a long-term commitment to Asia Pacific growth and existing operations in the region. 

The Accelerator Program is part of Visa’s broader set of platforms and activities for the startup community in Asia Pacific. For more information, visit https://www.visa.com.sg/apaccelerator

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Selection of quotes from the 2022 cohort of the Visa Accelerator Program: Cymonz, Moneytree, Perfios, TallyKhata and TripleA.

Cymonz

“The team at Cymonz is very excited to be working alongside the experienced team at Visa, integrating our platform with the innovative and cost-effective Visa payment rails. The partnership will provide a highly configurable, simple to launch international payments-as-a-service platform enabling banks and financial institutions to easily stand up or upgrade their international payments offering.” – Simon Lynch, Founder & CEO, Cymonz

Moneytree

“We are very excited about this opportunity, and look forward to developing innovative use cases combining Visa's expansive technology and Moneytree LINK, our market leading, privacy-focused financial data platform.” – Paul Chapman, Founder & CEO, Moneytree

Perfios

“It is always exciting to be associated with a well-recognised brand like Visa. We see this as an opportunity to expose our capabilities in the cards space and gain international recognition.” – Sandesh Jayarama, VP, New Business Initiatives, Perfios

TallyKhata

“We are super excited about the opportunity to be part of the Visa Accelerator Program 2022. We are developing innovative credit products for small businesses in collaboration with Visa and the local banks. Leveraging Visa rails and TallyKhata transaction data and credit scoring, we will enable quick and easy access of digital credit for the 11 million small businesses in Bangladesh.” – Dr Shahadat Khan, Founder & CEO, TallyKhata

TripleA

“TripleA is delighted to be part of the Visa Accelerator Program. This partnership is a unique opportunity for businesses to tap into the growing 300 million plus crypto user community through cryptocurrency payments and payouts.” – Eric Barbier, Founder & CEO, TripleA

[1] Visa 4Q21 Earnings

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Visa’s Digital Commerce Roadmap in Asia Pacific

The pandemic has forced businesses and consumers to go digital. In Southeast Asia alone, one-third of ecommerce was generated by new shoppers, with 80 percent of them intending to keep shopping online. Collectively, digital commerce sales for the Asia Pacific region is expected to hit USD 2T by 2025, presenting an enormous opportunity and significant shift in how people shop [1].

As a network of networks, Visa has a broad perspective on how commerce is evolving in the region. Expectations for digital commerce have evolved rapidly, and new shopping behaviours that were adopted during the pandemic are here to stay.

This is creating a new paradigm for businesses, financial institutions, payment networks and other service providers – all of whom aspire to deliver on consumers’ new expectations for a great commerce experience. Today, many businesses find it challenging to retain consumer engagement, and connect their customer-facing platforms with back-end operations to maximise sales conversions and efficiencies.

Here’s what Visa’s Digital Commerce Roadmap in Asia Pacific will cover:

Consumers’ expectations when it comes to a superior digital commerce experience and how clients can meet those needs

Future-looking trends on how, where and what consumers are buying

How businesses are conducting inter and intra business operations in an increasingly digital world

How Visa can help in the journey towards the next horizon of digital commerce

Click HERE for the full report.

[1] Source: Google x Temasek SEA 2020 Report

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