Visa has been running pilots globally that allow sellers to use their smartphones to accept Tap to Pay payments, with no additional or external payment hardware required.  

Following the success of these pilots, Visa will introduce rules for Tap to Phone solutions to coincide with the solution moving to General Availability.

Tap to Phone is aimed at small and medium enterprises as it offers a simple, cost-effective means of accepting Visa Tap to Pay payments. By downloading an app, a merchant can start accepting Tap to Pay payments using current-generation enabled mobile devices. Visa cardholders can make Tap to Pay payments at these merchants in seconds by tapping their contactless cards, smartphones or smartwatches to the Tap to Phone-enabled smartphone.

 Tap to Phone will help drive new acceptance and improve the POS experience for all parties.