Digital payment evolution crucial for SMEs growth – Visa

Visa, a payment solution for individuals and businesses has said  around the world, investment into digital transformation is paving the way for growth across Central Europe, Middle East and Africa region and thus Small and medium sized businesses must embrace this digital pay order.

Visa disclosed this in a report titled: Destination Digital: A Spotlight on Sub-Saharan Africa’s Prospects saying that a survey, collated stated that three-quarters of small businesses indicated that accepting digital payments was essential to their growth, with 90 per cent reporting that pivoting to eCommerce – which relies on digital acceptance – had helped them survive the pandemic.

Visa’s Senior Vice President and Head for SSA, Aida DIarra said  if there is going to be a digital payment evolution, “ it cannot be limited to large businesses. In solving this segment, we need to address the complexities, drive lower cost, and innovate to create more frictionless ways for SMEs to begin accepting payments.”

In a bid to achieve this, Visa said it has launched Tap to Phone, mobile POS (point of sale) technology – where sellers download an app to enable their smartphones to accept payments – in several markets in the region. The process has underlined the importance of a robust internet infrastructure, with connectivity (and the related costs) and integration with other business management systems both key to success in this area.

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According to the report the global economy has worsened  amid rising energy and food prices, and aggressively tighter monetary policy in advanced economies especially throughout Sub-Saharan Africa; where the rise in food price is weighing heavily on households’ budgets.

Nonetheless, as Aida Diarra, Visa’s Senior Vice President and Head for SSA, says: “Our region is open for business and the volume of activity we encounter in conversation and in the news demonstrates how dynamic our industry is. More players are entering the market in response to the wealth of opportunities that exist.”

DIarra noted that “there has been an accelerated growth in e-commerce as more consumers have become comfortable with transacting online and that necessitates a need to secure those transactions.” Indeed, the Global Cyber Security Outlook reports a 31 per cent increase between 2020 and 2021 in terms of cybercrime accelerated by the pandemic.

He added that the  accelerated demand for digital services brought on by the pandemic has also brought a” demand for a more integrated customer experience and less fragmented offerings – a question of ease and for many consumers a question of cost.”