Small Business Journey to Pay and Be Paid

Enable your small business clients to more easily pay and be paid with Visa APIs and products.

Available for use by

Issuer banks

Available for use by

Global - limited availability

Simplify making and receiving payments

Visa seeks to help issuers meet the diverse payments needs of their small business clients. Small businesses depend on their customers being able to pay them and their ability to pay their suppliers at a moment's notice. Visa enables issuers with tools that can help their small business cardholders have a smooth payments experience.

Visa business APIs simplify both outgoing payments and incoming receipts for small business owners so they have more time to focus on growing their business.

Scenario

Alex is a busy professional looking to renovate his home. He negotiates an upfront payment for purchasing materials and a payment after the completion of the project with a recommended contractor, Rosetta.

For past renovation projects, Alex typically received invoices by mail and paid by writing checks. This proved to be a time-consuming and tedious process. As a busy professional accustomed to making payments with his mobile device while on-the-go, Alex wasn't used to writing checks and took a long time to fill them out. His contractors also had to wait to purchase materials until they received the check, delaying the renovation project and making it more difficult to keep track of expenses.

To improve the client payment experience, project timeline, and expense management, Rosetta now uses her business banking app’s payment solutions for her projects.

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SMB creates and sends invoice

Before beginning the renovation, Rosetta issues her first invoice using her business banking app. She customizes the invoice to her company’s branding, indicates the agreed amount, then sends the invoice.

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Payer receives invoice

Alex receives an email requesting the first payment for the renovation project before the stated due date and a link to complete the card payment.

Icons for a customer and a virtual business card with a checkmark

Invoice reminder and payment

Five days before the due date, an email reminder is automatically sent to Alex. He clicks on the link to pay Rosetta and completes the payment on his mobile device. After submitting his payment, Alex receives a notification for the successful transaction.

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SMB receives payment confirmation

Rosetta receives a notification confirming that the invoice has been paid and the payment will be credited to her account.

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SMB finds supplier

Rosetta is looking to use her Visa business card to purchase project materials. Her business banking app identifies suppliers in her area that accept Visa commercial cards.

Icons for a merchant and a shopping cart with a money symbol

SMB saves while purchasing materials

Rosetta looks through the offers featured in the app and notices some of the identified suppliers offer in-store discounts. With her Visa business card, she purchases materials using eligible discounts and maximizes her savings.

Icons for a merchant and a receipt with the upload symbol

Payment reconciliation and expense management

Later in the day, Rosetta checks that the invoice was reconciled with the payment from Alex. She attaches the day’s receipts to each corresponding transaction on Visa’s spend management app, which syncs with her accounting software for visibility into her accounts and cashflow.

Key benefits

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Optimize cashflow with fast, easy, and secure payment acceptance for receivables.

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Enhance savings and convenience with value-add payments features.

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Simplify reconciliation with core spend management and accounting integrations.

APIs and products

Visa Acceptance Digital Invoicing

Digital Invoicing API enables businesses to send customized invoices to any customer via email or direct link. Customers can pay directly from their computer or mobile device.

Visa Supplier Matching Service

Visa Supplier Matching Service API is a fast and efficient way to identify suppliers that accept Visa Commercial payment products. It helps streamline procurement processes, reduce costs associated with payables, and concentrate spend to increase derivative benefits.

Visa Merchant Offers Resource Center

Visa Merchant Offers Resource Center is a central offer repository that gives issuers an easy way to promote merchant offers to their cardholders. The VMORC API allows issuers to access the latest offers as soon as they become available and extract offers to display on custom applications or pages.

Visa Spend Clarity for Business

Visa Spend Clarity for Business delivers easy-to-use spend controls, virtual payment solutions, and streamlined reporting to help businesses of all sizes organize expenses, accelerate efficiency, and drive compliance.

Visa SavingsEdge

Visa SavingsEdge turnkey loyalty program helps Visa Small Business Cardholders save on eligible business expenses with Instant Coupons for all Visa Business Cardholders and Cashback Offers for Cardholders who link their card.

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