Innovation

Helping small businesses grow in the digital world

06/01/2023
Small, independent businesses make up the heart of the European economy, accounting for more than half of Europe’s GDP and employing around 100 million people.¹ In the UK alone, there were 5.5 million businesses at the beginning of 2022 which account for three-fifths of the country’s employment.² In the past few years, they have faced unprecedented times, challenging economic conditions and changing consumer behaviour. With inflationary pressures providing new challenges, it’s crucial that small businesses get the support they need to thrive.

45% of small businesses reported an average of a 12% increase in sales after they started accepting digital payments

Unlocking the growth opportunity

At Visa, we know small businesses have access to a wide range of payment options – from cards to digital solutions – and we are committed to providing small businesses with the highest level of service to help them prosper and grow.

We target growth by evolving the digital capabilities of small businesses and plugging them into our payments network, connecting them to more customers and improving the overall customer experience. By creating multiple selling channels, whether on a high street or online, small businesses can then amplify their potential sales to a nationwide or even international customer base.

In fact, accepting digital payments, by card or mobile phone can positively impact balance sheet: 45% of small businesses reported an average of a 12% increase in sales after they started accepting digital payments. And 57% say customers spend more when they use cards.³

Futureproofing small businesses

The technology behind how people shop is constantly changing and improving. As customers expect to pay conveniently, easily, and securely, small businesses must be digitally enabled and able to provide a seamless customer experience. With 89% of Visa in-store payments now contactless in the UK, we ensure that businesses of all sizes are plugged in and ready for the next generation of payments.⁴ We offer small businesses the opportunity to benefit from our massive investment in innovation and technology – over £7bn in the past 5 years - enabling them to keep pace with ever-changing consumer needs, ensuring that everyone is able to pay and be paid according to their preferences. Our products include Click to Pay which makes online shopping quick and convenient with customer details automatically pre-populated securely.

Providing world class protection

Small businesses expect a high level of security from their payment providers, and they know they can rely on us because we stand behind every Visa transaction. That means our market-leading security and fraud protection, with 99.999% availability, is supporting them every minute of every day. In 2022 alone, our fraud prevention capabilities helped stop more than £22 billion in attempted fraudulent transactions for merchants and financial institutions. Fraud rates on cards continue to fall, with incidents occurring in less than 0.1% of transactions on our network, among the lowest of all payment forms. Then innovations such as Tokenisation and 3DS, pioneered by Visa, provide an extra layer of protection against fraud, making the payments process more secure and seamless for both small businesses and their customers. Recent analysis of more than 8,600 issuers and 800,000 merchants, showed that fraud rates with Visa tokens are 3 times less than other payment methods.⁵

As a longstanding champion of small businesses, we have witnessed firsthand the positive impact that thriving small businesses have on both the wider community and local economy. So, we will continue to do all we can to help small businesses, equipping them with the tools, confidence, and security they need to grow in a digital world.

This article was originally published on Visa Navigate Europe.

All brand names, logos and/or trademarks are the property of their respective owners, are used for identification purposes only, and do not necessarily imply product endorsement or affiliation with Visa.

  1. European Commission, Entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
  2. Federation of Small Businesses, UK Small Business Statistics 2022
  3. Digital Transformation of SMEs: The Future of Commerce, Refers to card, including debit or credit, and mobile payments.
  4. VisaNet data – September 2022
  5. Fighting fraud to help small businesses grow | Visa Navigate, VisaNet token vs. non-token card not present fraud (March 2022) and authorisation rates (May 2022)