PhonePe, Visa Partner For Cardless Payments In India, 14 Overseas Markets

PhonePe, a leading fintech company backed by Walmart, has teamed up with Visa to introduce three new cardless payment solutions in India and 14 overseas markets. The collaboration includes Tap to Pay, which allows Android users to make contactless payments by tapping their smartphones at compatible point-of-sale terminals. Cross Border Scan to Pay enables users traveling abroad to scan Visa-supported QR codes and pay using their tokenized cards.

Smart Accept will let small merchants accept card payments by allowing customers to tap physical cards or tokenized mobile wallets against their smartphones, eliminating the need for a separate Point-of-Sale machine. This partnership aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for connecting UPI with the payment systems of other countries, particularly those with significant Indian diaspora and trade ties.

PhonePe will be the first Indian app to offer Visa's cross-border QR payment functionality, even though it operates on Visa's card network rather than UPI. The company also unveiled Smart Accept, which allows merchants to accept card payments through their smartphones. PhonePe's device-tokenization solution, launched in February 2025, allows users to store tokenized credit and debit cards on their devices for various transactions.

The partnership was announced at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai and builds on PhonePe's existing capabilities. The company is preparing for a public listing, but has paused its IPO plans amid geopolitical tensions. PhonePe's operating revenue grew by 11.5% in FY26, but its net loss widened by 62%.