Tap to Phone transactions up 200%, Visa reports

The fastest growing contactless payment solution, at least in Visa's world, is Tap to Phone. The card company just announced that Tap to Phone saw a 200 percent increase year-over-year, supporting sellers of all sizes around the globe. The most significant growth was in the United States, the U.K. and Brazil, where adoption rates surged at a combined rate of 234 percent.

Tap to Phone turns a smartphone into a point of sale device, simply with a downloaded app. With nearly 20 per cent of tap sellers being small businesses, the technology is helping to democratize access to commerce tools and empower micro-sellers and SMBs around the world to accept contactless payments using their NFC-enabled smartphones.

"Tap to Phone is a tech equalizer for businesses," said Mark Nelson, global head of consumer products at Visa. Whether a merchant is popping up at a local market or a major retailer wants to equip employees to assist customers on the floor, Tap to Phone helps businesses of all sizes accept payments, Nelson added.

Ariel Davis, owner of Brooklyn TeacupThe, an upcycling business in New York that gives new life to vintage china, said Tap to Phone technology has helped her pivot to an open, in-person studio for customers. Notably absent from her compact space are a desk, computer setup or register.

"You don't typically couple vintage china with innovation, but in some ways, I feel like a tech startup because we're always trying to figure out what's going to make this experience the best for our customers and the latest technology that will take us there," Davis said.

In another use case, the UK's Reuthe's evolved from an old woodland nursery into a thriving event space, featuring live music events and food festivals. One challenge in making the transition was how to process payments efficiently across the sprawling 11-acre site.

Previously, transactions were limited to fixed payment points, but that wasn't going to work in its new life. By adopting Tap to Phone, the farm was able to turn every staff member's phone into a payment terminal.

"We expect overall business growth of 20 percent this year and Tap to Phone will play a huge role in that," said Simon Young, events manager and café owner at Reuthe's. "It's transformed the customer experience, too, cutting queue times and making purchases effortless. For any small business looking to boost sales and simplify payments, this technology is a no-brainer."

More ways to tap

The upward trend in Tap to Phone adoption is expected to continue through the next year, Visa said, as more consumers and businesses come to recognize the benefits of tap technology and more use cases hit the market.

For example, in September 2024, Visa announced Tap to Add Card, an added feature that enables Apple Pay users to add eligible credit or debit cards to their digital wallets simply by tapping a card to their smart phone.

Since Tap to Add Card rolled out globally, it has picked up traction and enabled millions of tokens for more than 100 issuers, helping achieve higher authorization and fraud reduction rates. Visa cardholders are adding their cards to Apple wallets faster than ever, with no need to manually input card details, Visa boasted. The card brand has plans to extend Tap to Add Card functionality to other wallets, including Google Wallet.

Visa also has developed Tap to Confirm, which allows consumers to quickly and securely authenticate high-value transfers. Then there is Tap to Send and Request money. That feature that allows cardholders to tap their physical card credential to a device wallet on a friend's phone to securely send and receive money.

Visa isn't alone in coupling tap-to-pay with smartphones. Mastercard offers a similar capability called Tap on Phone, which is live in more than 110 markets. Tap on Phone empowers micro-merchants who need flexible and low-cost acceptance options, as well as large retailers seeking queue-busting solutions, and allows folks to tap for purchases in flight on major airlines, Mastercard stated.

Whether you want to upgrade your POS offerings, find a payment gateway partner, bone up on fintech regs or PCI requirements, find an upcoming trade show, read about faster payments, or discover the latest innovations in merchant acquiring, The Green Sheet is the resource for you. Since 1983, we've helped empower and connect payments professionals, starting with the merchant level salespeople who bring tailored payment acceptance and digital commerce tools, along with a host of other business services to merchants across the globe. The Green Sheet Inc. is also a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals.

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