Tap to Phone, Visa's technology that turns smart phones into payment terminals, has experienced a 200% increase in usage globally over the past year and a 300% surge among small business owners in the UK.
The technology, which empowers microsellers and SMEs to start accepting contactless payments by using their NFC-enabled smartphones, has been adopted more than one in five new small businesses in the UK
“Tap to Phone is the ultimate leveller for businesses,” says Mandy Lamb, managing director UK & Ireland, Visa. “That’s especially the case for new businesses starting out, that can set up shop and instantly accept payments using a mobile device they already have in their pocket. With over 18.3 billion contactless payments made in the UK in 2023 alone, it’s clear that consumers love to tap. We’re excited to be expanding our tap capabilities even further to create even better payment experiences for people and businesses in the years to come.”
The card scheme in September rolled out Tap to Add Card, for auto-loading of card details to Apple wallets. It has also developed Tap to Confirm, which allows consumers to securely authenticate a high value transfer, and Tap to Send and Request money, a feature that allows users to tap their physical card or card credential to a device wallet on a friend’s phone to send and receive money. Tap to Send will be available later this year on Samsung Galaxy devices as “Tap to Transfer.”