PhonePe and Visa jointly announced the launch of three new payment solutions: Tap to Pay, Cross Border Scan to Pay, and Smart Accept at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026 in Mumbai. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, the collaboration makes PhonePe the first app in India to introduce Cross Border Scan to Pay for international transactions and the first app to enable a complete suite of three core Visa capabilities for consumers. Speaking on the launch, Rahul Chari, Founder & CPTO at PhonePe, emphasized that the partnership represents a pivotal milestone in scaling their vision globally, stating that by unifying online tokenization, Tap to Pay, and Cross-Border QR payments alongside Smart Accept for merchants, they are removing friction across the entire payments value chain and establishing a new standard for borderless and cardless commerce. As reported by The Economic Times, Chari dismissed security concerns around card tokenization, asserting that "there is no fraud that gets enabled through card tokenization on mobile devices" and emphasizing that tokenization is a much broader concept beyond just card payments, with blockchain technology being a larger piece that may have some concerns but specifically with card tokenization, there is no concern.
The partnership introduces Cross Border Scan to Pay, which extends QR-code payments beyond India's borders to 14 international markets including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Japan, China, and South Korea. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, this feature allows users to scan Visa-supported QR codes across these markets, reducing friction for Indian travellers by enabling payments through a familiar domestic method. The feature is expected to roll out soon, addressing the challenge of currency exchange and card usage abroad. According to The Economic Times, Chari explained that consumers who have saved their Visa cards on the PhonePe app can make credit card payments at small merchants using the PhonePe for Business app with Visa Accept, enabling phone-to-phone credit card payments where consumers can simply scan the merchant's QR code and make payments using their saved Visa cards without requiring physical cards or POS devices.
The partnership includes Tap to Pay, which allows Android users to tokenise their Visa cards and make contactless payments directly at POS terminals using their smartphones. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, the feature will roll out in phases starting September 9, 2026, designed to work even in low-connectivity environments. Additionally, Smart Accept enables merchants to accept card transactions directly on their smartphones without investing in a dedicated POS device. As reported by The Economic Times, Chari explained that the Smart Accept solution now enables micro-merchants who don't have POS devices for accepting cards to use the Phone Pay for Business app with Visa Accept, empowering small merchants to accept card payments directly on their smartphones without buying a separate card POS machine. The solution brings the cost of card-present device ownership to zero while onboarding and optimising commercial rates, and fully integrates card payments into PhonePe's existing QR dashboard for unified daily reconciliation and simplified dispute resolution.
The collaboration builds on Visa Device Tokenisation, introduced on PhonePe in February 2025, and focuses on unifying online tokenisation, Tap to Pay, and Cross-Border QR payments alongside Smart Accept for merchants. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, the partnership brings multiple Visa capabilities into the PhonePe ecosystem, allowing consumers to move between online, in-store, and international payments without a physical card. As reported by The Economic Times, Chari emphasized that the convenience and security of Tap to Pay compared with carrying a physical Visa card lies in "not carrying a card itself and yet being able to do a transaction" - a significant ease and convenience factor. He added that from a security perspective, Tap to Pay rides on the same tokenization technology that's been operating at scale across various markets globally, with PhonePe bringing it to a larger set of users in India. The initiative establishes a seamless, cardless payment ecosystem where once users save their Visa card on PhonePe, they can simply tap their phone to pay at stores, check out online at their favorite merchants, or scan QR codes while traveling abroad, eliminating the need to carry physical cards altogether.
The partnership positions PhonePe as a single interface through which users can access multiple Visa-powered payment experiences across online commerce, physical retail and international travel. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, Suresh Sethi, Group Country Manager, India and South Asia at Visa, highlighted that India is at the forefront of the global digital payments revolution, and Visa is proud to be a catalyst in this transformation. The initiative reflects how India's payments ecosystem is increasingly moving towards experiences that are not just digital-first, but also cardless, borderless and device-driven, with these collaborations likely to shape the next phase of innovation in digital payments. As digital payments become embedded across more aspects of everyday commerce, the focus is shifting from enabling digital payments to making them work seamlessly across contexts, geographies, and devices, with the partnership positioning PhonePe as a catalyst in this transformation.
