Saudi Arabia’s award-winning payment solutions powerhouse, PayTabs has partnered with American multinational financial services firm Visa to launch its PayTabs Touch product “Tap to Phone”, a contactless merchant payment acceptance solution.
According to the company statement, with the launch of Tap to Phone, merchants will be able to accept payments using contactless cards or wallets via their smartphones. This device-independent solution will only require a smartphone with a Wi-Fi connection or mobile data.
Cardholders can tap their contactless Visa or other activated payment cards or digital wallets on the merchant’s smartphone to make a payment.
As per Visa’s recent Stay Secure customer and Small Business Recovery survey, digital payments will grow rapidly in the GCC and broader MENA regions as customers and merchants prefer hygienic cashless payment methods.
Abdulaziz Al Jouf Founder & CEO PayTabs
“Tap to Phone, a homegrown PayTabs product is something we envisioned, and have been working on for the last year. The region couldn’t grow the QR business effectively and I think this is the leapfrog jump in technology that will not replace traditional QR and POS but is an additional acceptance device to target small and micro-businesses. The Tap to Phone solution which is available round the clock is vital for merchants and customers, in the age of the pandemic. Empowering both merchants and customers is our blue ocean strategy in the payments ecosystem of the future.”
Madhur Mehra, Visa’s Head of Merchant Sales and Acquiring for MENA said, “Recent events have led to a marked increase in consumer preference for a more hygienic, non-cash payment method. Visa’s recent Small Business Recovery study revealed that 82 percent of UAE merchants see digital payments as a necessary investment for business recovery. The same study also showed that more than half surveyed showed interest in low-cost acceptance solutions, highlighting the appetite and support for digital transformation.
“’Tap to Phone’ will enable merchants across the region to accept contactless payments in an easy, and cost-effective way and help them reinvent the physical shopping experience for consumers. Soon, smartphones will be an even more common channel not just to pay but also to accept payments. We are delighted to partner with PayTabs to bring Tap to Phone to merchants, and support businesses to not just overcome the challenges created by the pandemic but also to thrive,” Mr. Mehra added.
PayTabs
Established in 2014, PayTabs provides comprehensive payment solutions for SMEs and enterprises in multiple markets. These include online and offline eCommerce, m-commerce & social commerce solutions for merchants and retailers operating in MENA & Asia. Originally backed by Saudi Aramco’s “Waed” and later by private Saudi investment, PayTabs has in-built and exported a full stack of game-changing solutions. These include mobile applications, hospitality, governmental, education, airline, travel, transport, and biller solutions, to interlink the multi-billion-dollar enterprise market chain in the MENA region.
