Thousands of Kenyan small businesses could soon begin accepting Visa card payments using only their smartphones after Visa announced that Co-operative Bank of Kenya will roll out its Visa Accept platform in the coming weeks.
The new payment solution is expected to allow traders, market vendors and small businesses to receive card payments without investing in traditional point-of-sale (POS) machines, as the global payments company pushes to expand digital payment options in emerging markets.
According to Visa, the technology transforms an ordinary smartphone into a payment terminal, enabling merchants to accept Visa card payments directly through their banking app. Customers will be able to pay by simply tapping their Visa card on the seller's phone or through payment links, with funds reaching the merchant's account in near real time.
The launch places Kenya among the next countries set to adopt the technology, alongside Ghana, where Access Bank, Omni Bank and Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) are also preparing to introduce the service.
Visa's Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial and Money Movement Solutions for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, Shahebaz Khan, said the innovation is aimed at making digital payments easier for small businesses that increasingly rely on smartphones to run their operations.
"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," Khan said.
He added that Visa envisions smartphones becoming an all-in-one business tool for merchants.
"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 said.
The announcement comes as more businesses shift towards cashless transactions and digital financial services. Visa cited findings from its Global SMB Macro Trends Report showing that 99 per cent of surveyed small and medium-sized businesses already use at least one digital finance tool, while 85 per cent said such tools have positively impacted their businesses.
The company also noted that access to faster payments could help businesses struggling with cash flow. According to the report, one in every five surveyed SMEs experiences cash flow gaps daily or monthly, while nearly 28 per cent reported difficulties accessing credit or borrowing facilities over the past year.
Beyond receiving payments, Visa also unveiled new capabilities under Visa Direct, allowing business owners to use the same smartphone to send payments.
The feature will enable merchants to pay employees, contractors and delivery drivers, process customer refunds and incentives, and transfer funds across borders to eligible cards, bank accounts or digital wallets through participating banking and fintech platforms.
Visa said the move is part of its broader strategy to make smartphones the central tool for running small businesses, bringing payment acceptance, money transfers and customer interactions onto a single device.
The company revealed that Visa Accept is already available in more than 25 countries through banking partners in Sri Lanka, Guatemala and Vietnam.
With Kenya now preparing for rollout through Co-operative Bank, Visa expects the platform to expand rapidly and projects that Visa Accept will be available to millions of merchants worldwide by 2027.
