Visa has unveiled new products aimed at boosting digital payment experiences in the Philippines, a market where digital transactions are rapidly expanding.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that 50 percent of retail payments in the country were digitized in 2023, a milestone that highlights growing adoption and readiness for further innovation.
As digital transactions continue to rise, Visa’s AI-enabled solutions are designed to empower Filipino consumers and businesses by providing secure, seamless payment experiences.
“The continuously growing digital payment sector in the Philippines makes it a prime environment for technological innovation—one that harnesses AI for the benefit of the digital Filipino business owner and consumer,” said Visa Philippines country manager Jeffrey Navarro.
Over the past decade, Visa has invested more than $3 billion in AI and data infrastructure, enabling regional partners—including AI platforms, fintechs, banks, and merchants—to connect to the Visa network. Visa’s focus on AI, tokenization, and real-time fraud prevention aims to ensure transaction security in an increasingly digital landscape marked by evolving threats and the need for greater accountability.
Leading this wave of innovation is Visa Intelligent Commerce, a new initiative that opens Visa’s payments network to developers and engineers building the next generation of AI-powered commerce in Asia Pacific.
Visa Intelligent Commerce offers a suite of integrated APIs and a commercial partner program for AI platforms, enabling developers to deploy Visa’s AI commerce capabilities securely and at scale. Visa announced it is in explorations with Ant International, Grab, and Tencent to grow AI commerce by enabling a secure and seamless checkout experience.
Ant International is a leading global digital payment, digitalization and financial technology provider. Grab is Southeast Asia’s leading “super app” offering ride-hailing, food delivery, digital payments and financial services across eight markets. Tencent is a multinational technology leader that develops a wide range of digital products and services, including Weixin/WeChat, China’s “super app.”
“The Philippines’ digital economy remains vibrant, and Visa’s cutting-edge innovations are key to keeping the country at the forefront of payment technology,” Poojyata Khattar, Visa’s head of product for Regional Southeast Asia, said.
“Imagine the possibilities that AI brings to everyday life for Filipino digital consumers—from automatically ordering your favorite meals on Grab before you even think of it, to alerting you about the next big K-pop concert and arranging all your travel plans. With Visa’s trusted payment infrastructure and advanced AI capabilities, these seamless, secure, and enjoyable experiences are now within reach for everyone in the country,” Khattar said.
Over the past 25 years, Visa’s global network has handled 3.3 trillion transactions. Today, Visa is advancing its infrastructure, standards, and capabilities to power AI-driven commerce, opening new opportunities for consumers across Asia Pacific. Soon, AI agents integrated into familiar platforms will be able to transact using Visa’s 4.8 billion credentials at millions of merchant locations worldwide.
Visa is also launching new services to make it easier for consumers, merchants, and businesses in the Philippines to pay and be paid.
Visa Pay, a service designed to connect any participating wallet to any Visa-accepting merchant, local or international, in-store or online, is launching across Asia Pacific, which is home to the largest number of digital wallet users. Through partnerships with players including LINE Pay in Taiwan, Maya in the Philippines, OpenRice in Hong Kong, and Woori Card in South Korea, Visa is expanding access to its global network, giving consumers more ways to pay globally by tapping, scanning, or online.
Digital Identity, a suite of solutions including Passkeys, Tap to Confirm, and enhanced data, aims to identify and authenticate digital users. These solutions are intended to reduce friction for consumers by being digitally native while improving payment security and authorization rates with enhanced transaction data and fraud prevention techniques. New partners in the region include Coles, a supermarket chain in Australia, and Maybank, a financial services provider in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
Visa Accept is a new solution that allows micro-sellers to receive payments directly to their eligible Visa debit card using any NFC-enabled smartphone. Launching in Vietnam, the service supports micro-entrepreneurs and informal sellers such as street vendors, freelancers, and small service providers. Participating issuers will enable cardholders to accept contactless payments through their bank’s mobile app.
Visa said it continues to expand its product portfolio with solutions designed to support the evolving payment needs of consumers and businesses in the country and across Asia Pacific, particularly Millennial and Gen Z consumers who are increasingly looking for flexible and convenient payment options.
Flex Credential, a next-generation card that allows users to seamlessly toggle between debit, credit, and reward points, continues to gain traction in Asia Pacific. Visa first launched Flex in partnership with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company (SMCC), known as Olive, two years ago in Japan. Today, more than 5 million Olive account holders are benefitting from the Visa Flex Credential. The Olive card continues to outperform, with cardholder transactions averaging 40% higher than the national average in Japan over the past year.
Visa and SMCC have expanded the Visa Flex Credential to support small businesses with the flexibility to switch between business and personal accounts using the same Olive card, enhancing access to credit and cash flow management. Visa is also collaborating with local banks in Vietnam to launch Flex Credential in the next few months.
Visa has been facilitating cryptocurrency transactions for over five years and is now expanding its offering to include stablecoin-backed cards, settlement, and programmable money. On- and off-ramps via stablecoin-backed cards allow consumers to use their Visa credentials to buy stablecoins with fiat currency and pay with stablecoin across Visa-accepting merchant locations. In Asia Pacific, Visa is partnering with DCS Singapore, DTC Pay, and StraitsX on stablecoin-backed cards that support conversion through regulated infrastructure.
Visa has settled more than $225 million to date in stablecoin volume through Visa across participating clients. In Asia Pacific, Visa is working with StraitsX for stablecoin settlement.
Through the Visa Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP), Visa provides a platform for partners to issue and manage fiat-backed tokens, offering interconnectivity to public and private blockchains, enabling programmable financing, trading of tokenized assets, and facilitating cross-border money movement. Visa is looking to expand the availability of VTAP to more partners later this year and into 2026.
“We are excited to work with local banks, acquirers, merchants, and the government in bringing these innovations to the Philippine market. Working with the right partners will help us translate these global innovations into real, tangible impact for local stakeholders – helping us all advance into the future of payments,” Navarro said.
