Visa, Mashreq Team On UAE SMB Onboarding

United Arab Emirates-based card acceptance provider Mashreq is now working with Visa to put out a new rapid seller onboarding program to help with digital acquisition and onboarding of small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), IBS Intelligence reported.

The program is intended to cut out pain points for both merchants and acquirers, including lack of digital touchpoints, lengthy onboarding timelines and stunted feedback mechanisms, which lead to higher costs for everyone, the report stated.

Visa General Manager for the UAE Shahebaz Khan said in the report the idea is to make it easier for SMBs to accept digital payments, which can help businesses through stopping revenue leakage and boosting cash flow.

It will also help boost the UAE digital economy, which has been growing lately, according to the report.

“SMBs in the UAE have been hit hard by the pandemic, and although they are on the road to recovery, we recognize the pressures they face to meet the changing payment habits of their customers,” Khan said in the report. “Most UAE merchants surveyed in Visa’s Small Business Recovery 2021 study (82 percent) see digital payments as a necessary investment in business recovery, and 51 percent of them expressed interest in low-cost acceptance solutions.”

“We are increasingly experiencing a shift from cash to digital payment methods in the SMB merchants segment,” said Mashreq Executive Vice President and Head of Payments Kartik Taneja in the report. “We are also experiencing unprecedented growth in the eCommerce merchants segment.”

He added in the report that Mashreq has another program called NeoBiz, which adds a digital account opening experience for SMBs. It also enhances value added services, including payment acceptance through point of sale (POS) and payment gateways.

Meanwhile, HSBC has rolled out virtual debit cards for companies in the UAE. The idea is to satisfy the demand for more flexible payment offerings, which have become more popular over the past few years.

Read more: HSBC Brings Virtual Debit Cards To UAE Companies