Visa expands small business savings program

Visa expands small business savings program

In its pursuit of new business customers and to increase existing business credit card sales for its merchant account holders, Visa has put together a new small business discount credit card processing program called the Visa SavingsEdge program. This free program allows Visa business cardholders to receive special discounts from participating merchants enrolled in the program. It is free to join and business merchants receive credit discounts on a variety of services and products including travel, office supplies and even newspaper subscriptions.

The Visa SavingsEdge program has created a buzz of interest in the media. The blog American Banking News points out that the new program allows small business credit card users to enjoy "savings at more than 14,000 retail locations." CNBC adds that Visa SavingsEdge is "a helpful tool for small business owners who want to control expenses and manage cash flow in a more effective manner." Many in the financial industry say that the new Visa SavingsEdge program is a useful tool for lowering a business' general operating costs through the use of discounts. In addition, businesses can defer payments until the end of the month or use their credit line to purchase services and products.

How it works
The Visa SavingsEdge program is free to all current Visa business card merchants. Businesses of any size just need to register, and larger companies can enroll up to 10 of their Visa business credit card accounts for purchases. Visa will send enrollment confirmations; after that, a business can start processing credit card purchases to participating merchants. The savings appear on account statements as credits.

When visiting the Visa SavingsEdge web portal, businesses will see that only qualifying purchases at participating vendors are included in the discount programs. Understanding which products are considered qualifying purchases is vital to receive the discounts.

Discount offers
According to Visa, the vendor can impose specific terms and conditions for each discount offered. These may include the percentage of the discount, expiration dates and purchase requirements. Small businesses making a purchase through the Visa SavingsEdge program need to read the fine print and follow any requirements the merchant requests, such as inputting a coupon code during the checkout process.

Once a business is approved for the Visa SavingsEdge program, it can expect the program to contact it via e-mails or text messaging; a business' contact preference is requested during the application process. When a business is ready to make a purchase, it just follows the embedded links in the text of the message or visits the Visa SavingsEdge web portal.

Published: May 3,2023