{"id":38523,"date":"2026-08-14T10:30:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T02:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techbeatph.com\/wproot\/?p=38523"},"modified":"2026-08-14T09:11:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T01:11:35","slug":"visa-umsi-u-accept-smartphone-payments-msmes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.techbeatph.com\/wproot\/visa-umsi-u-accept-smartphone-payments-msmes\/","title":{"rendered":"Visa, UMSI Turn Smartphones Into Payment Terminals for Filipino MSMEs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Visa<\/a> and USSC Money Services, Inc. (UMSI)<\/a> have launched U Accept, a smartphone-based payment acceptance solution designed to help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Philippines accept contactless payments without traditional point-of-sale hardware.<\/p>\n

Powered by Visa Accept and integrated into UMSI\u2019s uGrow platform, the service allows eligible smartphones to function as payment acceptance devices. The move could lower one of the barriers preventing smaller businesses from moving away from cash-based transactions: the cost and complexity of setting up dedicated payment terminals.<\/p>\n

U Accept turns eligible smartphones into payment terminals<\/h4>\n

Instead of requiring merchants to purchase a separate POS terminal, U Accept allows business owners to activate payment acceptance directly through the uGrow app.<\/p>\n

The solution supports contactless card payments and pay-by-link, giving MSMEs another way to receive digital payments from customers. Visa<\/a> said the service also provides the security, reliability, and dispute protections associated with its card payment network.<\/p>\n

Beyond accepting payments, U Accept lets merchants send digital receipts by email and review transaction histories. These capabilities complement existing uGrow tools for monitoring sales and managing inventory.<\/p>\n

Users can also receive near-real-time settlement through their U Visa<\/a> Prepaid Card, further connecting payment acceptance with the platform’s existing financial services.<\/p>\n

MSMEs remain a major opportunity for digital payments<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The launch targets a large segment of the Philippine economy. MSMEs account for more than 99% of businesses in the country and generate 67% of total employment, according to the companies.<\/p>\n

Despite their size and economic importance, smaller businesses can face practical challenges when adopting digital payments. Hardware costs, onboarding requirements, and limited awareness of available solutions can make traditional payment acceptance less accessible.<\/p>\n

Visa’s research cited in the announcement points to the potential benefits of adoption. Among Filipino SME owners surveyed, 83% reported higher turnover after accepting card payments, while 41% said customers spent more when using cards.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, 67% of SME owners that do not currently accept cards said they would consider adopting a solution if they received support.<\/p>\n

Those figures highlight why smartphone-based acceptance could be significant for smaller merchants, particularly those that may not have enough transaction volume to justify dedicated payment infrastructure.<\/p>\n

U Accept expands what the uGrow platform can do<\/h4>\n

U Accept is positioned as another component of UMSI’s broader uGrow ecosystem for entrepreneurs and small businesses.<\/p>\n

Rather than functioning solely as a payment tool, the platform combines payment acceptance with business-management features such as sales monitoring, inventory management, transaction history, and digital receipts.<\/p>\n

For merchants, this creates a more consolidated workflow: the same smartphone used to manage parts of the business can also serve as the device for accepting customer payments.<\/p>\n

The approach also aligns with UMSI’s existing focus on expanding financial services to underserved communities, including businesses operating outside major urban centers.<\/p>\n

Visa and UMSI build on their broader payments partnership<\/h4>\n

The U Accept launch builds on a strategic partnership between Visa and UMSI announced in 2025.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That collaboration included plans to launch Visa Direct to improve outbound money movement and provide cross-border payment capabilities. U Accept extends the relationship into the merchant acceptance side of the payments ecosystem.<\/p>\n

For Visa, the partnership also gives its payment infrastructure a route into smaller businesses that may otherwise remain reliant on cash.<\/p>\n

BSP Deputy Governor for the Payments and Currency Management Sector Mamerto E. Tangonan welcomed the launch, describing Visa Accept’s introduction as a step toward expanding access to digital payment acceptance among Filipino MSMEs.<\/p>\n

A smartphone-first approach could lower the barrier to cashless payments<\/h4>\n

The significance of U Accept goes beyond allowing merchants to accept cards through an app. Its smartphone-first model addresses a basic problem in payment digitalization: smaller businesses do not necessarily need another piece of hardware, but they do need an accessible way to participate in the digital economy.<\/p>\n

By combining payment acceptance with tools that merchants already use to manage their businesses, Visa and UMSI are betting that convenience can accelerate adoption.<\/p>\n

As more Filipino consumers become accustomed to contactless and cashless transactions, solutions such as U Accept could give MSMEs a simpler path toward accepting digital payments without the upfront investment associated with conventional POS terminals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Visa and USSC Money Services, Inc. (UMSI) have launched U Accept, a smartphone-based payment acceptance solution designed to help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Philippines accept contactless payments without traditional point-of-sale hardware. Powered by Visa Accept and integrated into UMSI\u2019s uGrow platform, the service allows eligible smartphones to function as payment acceptance…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":38527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4162],"tags":[22726,23864,3810,24657,25089,29270,29272,29269,1205,29271],"class_list":["post-38523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fintech","tag-cashless-payments","tag-contactless-payments","tag-digital-payments","tag-mobile-payments","tag-msmes-philippines","tag-u-accept","tag-ugrow","tag-umsi","tag-visa","tag-visa-accept"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techbeatph.com\/wproot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techbeatph.com\/wproot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techbeatph.com\/wproot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techbeatph.com\/wproot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techbeatph.com\/wproot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38523"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.techbeatph.com\/wproot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38528,"href":"https:\/\/www.techbeatph.com\/wproot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38523\/revisions\/38528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techbeatph.com\/wproot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techbeatph.com\/wproot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techbeatph.com\/wproot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techbeatph.com\/wproot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}