PhonePe and Visa launch cardless payment tools for consumers and merchants

The partners have introduced Tap to Pay, Cross Border Scan to Pay and Smart Accept. The offerings aim to enable tap-based payments, international QR transactions across 14 markets and smartphone-based card acceptance for merchants.

— FiledWed, 9 Sept, 2026, 13:12 IST·First seen Wed, 9 Sept, 2026, 13:12 IST·Source Entrackr

What happened

PhonePe and Visa launched Tap to Pay, Cross Border Scan to Pay and Smart Accept, expanding cardless payments for Indian consumers and merchants. Smart Accept

Key facts

  • 3 payment solutions
  • September 9, 2026 phased Tap to Pay rollout
  • 14 international markets
  • February 2025 online device tokenisation launch
  • 71.5 crore registered users as of July 2026
  • over 5 crore merchants

Why this matters

Visa gains deeper distribution in India’s high-volume digital-payment ecosystem, while PhonePe becomes a more compelling partner or target for firms seeking cardless merchant-acquiring reach.

What to watch

  • Named list of the 14 supported cross-border markets, issuing partners and live transaction volume.
  • Merchant discount rate, onboarding requirements, settlement timing and dispute-management terms for Smart Accept.
  • NFC handset compatibility and whether Tap to Pay works across Android and iPhone devices.
  • Adoption by airport retailers, duty-free, hotels, tourist attractions and cross-border e-commerce merchants.
  • Whether PhonePe links acceptance data to working-capital loans, loyalty, offers or merchant software subscriptions.
  • PhonePe is likely to bundle Smart Accept with merchant lending, settlement analytics, loyalty tools and device-light POS offers to deepen merchant retention.
  • Visa may recruit issuing-bank and international-wallet partners to increase the usable base for cross-border QR payments beyond a launch-market proposition.
  • Large retailers may pilot the tools first in travel-heavy stores, quick-service restaurants and assisted checkout environments before chain-wide deployment.
  • Competing payment platforms and acquirers may accelerate Tap to Phone, interoperable QR and lower-cost softPOS offerings.