Co-operative Bank to Launch Visa Smartphone Payment Solution for Kenyan Traders

By our Reporter Maurice Momanyi

Thousands of small businesses in Kenya will soon be able to accept Visa card payments using only their smartphones after Co-operative Bank of Kenya announced plans to roll out Visa’s Visa Accept platform in the coming weeks.

The innovation will enable traders, market vendors and other small businesses to receive Visa card payments without purchasing traditional point-of-sale (POS) machines, further accelerating the adoption of digital payments across the country.

The Visa Accept platform transforms an ordinary smartphone into a payment terminal, allowing merchants to accept Visa card payments directly through their banking application. Customers will be able to complete transactions by simply tapping their Visa card on the merchant’s phone or by using payment links, with funds expected to be credited to the seller’s account in near real time.

Kenya becomes one of the latest markets to introduce the technology alongside Ghana, where Access Bank, Omni Bank and Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) are also preparing similar rollouts.

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 solution is designed to simplify digital payments for small businesses that increasingly depend 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 comprehensive business management tools.

“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 rollout comes as businesses continue shifting toward cashless transactions and digital financial services. According to Visa’s Global SMB Macro Trends Report, 99 per cent of surveyed small and medium-sized enterprises already use at least one digital finance tool, while 85 per cent reported that digital technologies have positively impacted their businesses.

The report also highlighted ongoing cash flow challenges among SMEs, with one in five businesses experiencing cash flow gaps on a daily or monthly basis. Nearly 28 per cent also reported difficulties accessing credit or borrowing facilities over the past year.

Beyond accepting payments, Visa has introduced new capabilities under its Visa Direct platform, allowing merchants to use the same smartphone to send payments. Business owners will be able to pay employees, contractors and delivery drivers, issue customer refunds and incentives, and transfer funds across borders to eligible bank accounts, payment cards and digital wallets through participating banks and fintech partners.

Visa said the initiative forms part of its broader strategy to make smartphones the central hub for managing small businesses by integrating payment acceptance, money transfers and customer engagement into a single device.

The company noted that Visa Accept is already available in more than 25 countries through banking partners, including Sri Lanka, Guatemala and Vietnam. With Co-operative Bank of Kenya set to launch the platform, Visa expects the solution to reach millions of merchants worldwide by 2027.