Tap to Phone: A Game-Changer for Financial Inclusion Through Mobile Payments

COVID-19 has brought a lot of damage to the world. The pandemic also sparked a shift in digital payments, bringing the fuel of innovation to the payments industry. However, although many feel that we are inching closer to a cashless society, data from the World Bank shows that over 1.7 billion adults are unbanked, with no access to savings accounts, credit cards, or other traditional financial services.

The financial exclusion conundrum

The reasons behind financial exclusion can vary from living in poverty and in places with close to no access to the internet and digital services to being socially excluded by living in less favourable regions. Banks – and recently, fintechs – have tried to fight against financial exclusion for quite some time, and what we’ve noticed lately in terms of financial technology and innovation can help the payments industry to power up in enabling financial inclusion.

Tap to Phone to the rescue.

Among the many initiatives trying to fight financial exclusion (among other hurdles), we must mention Visa’s Tap to Phone technology. Merchants can accept payments via their smart devices (phones or tablets) through this mobile payment solution. It allows us to gaze at a future of simplified payments by allowing retailers to eliminate costly and sometimes hard to maintain. Traditional hardware for POS terminals.

Best of all, merchants are willing to upgrade as customers demand more. In a survey conducted by Visa, 63% of MSMs declared to be open to implementing Tap to Phone for their business, while more than half of consumers surveyed would use Tap to Phone if they had the chance.

Although many people lack access to savings and credit, they may possess a smartphone. According to McKinsey, digital finance could turn their lives around and allow them brighter economic prospects – individuals, businesses, or even governments.

Financial inclusion addresses the developing world, and the mobile phone is how to reach everyone.

The benefits of SoftPOS

Tap to Phone can upgrade a merchant’s traditional POS system into one worthy of a future that enables financial inclusion for all. Through Paymob’s SoftPOS solution, for example, businesses of any size can benefit from enabling customers to enjoy a quick and seamless checkout experience.

Through the SoftPOS system that features Visa’s Tap-to-Phone technology, merchants ride the contactless payments wave that took the industry by storm. They can accept payments via cards or QR codes at minimal costs and in a swift manner. Their customers' shopping experience can be improved, as traditional POS solutions are often too immobile for on-the-go consumers.

Reduced costs would be another benefit of implementing a SoftPOS system. Merchants won’t have to invest in additional equipment or pay to maintain POS hardware. Usually, SoftPOS would target the small businessman or someone who makes their trade on the go as they encounter a highly variable volume of transactions (delivery, food trucks, grocery stores and so on). Through SoftPOS, a business isn’t limited to in-shop purchases, thus increasing the number of use cases.

Financial inclusion starts with the smallest business and only requires a phone and an internet connection.