Nearly one-quarter of small businesses from nine countries said they have plans to accept digital currencies as payment in 2022, according to a survey from Visa.
On the other hand, roughly three-quarters of businesses surveyed by Visadescribed accepting new forms of payments as “fundamental” to growth. Meanwhile, 13% of consumers from those countries said that they expect more retail outlets to accept crypto this year.
Visa surveyed 2,250 small business owners across nine countries including the United States, Brazil, Singapore, Canada, Germany, Ireland, and Russia. The survey consisted of 1,000 adults in the United States, in addition to 500 adults from each of the nine countries. “I think more people are feeling more confident with crypto,” said Visas global head of merchant sales and acquiring Jeni Mundy.
Visa find crypto payments most popular among smaller economies
According to the results of the survey, it would seem that small businesses outside North America seem to be keener on accepting digital currencies as payment. In the United States, 19% of small businesses expect to offer crypto as a payment option this year, while in Canada that number shrinks to just 8%.
However, Visa found that figure jumped to over 30% in the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Brazil. Digital currencies have already proven popular in each of those jurisdictions over the course of the past year, in spite of the varying degrees of regulation.
Mundy noted that adopting crypto may be a natural evolution for many smaller companies that are transitioning into new forms of digital payments. The same could be said for developing economies, which would explain their peripheral popularity. These businesses are asking themselves, “what other forms of payment can we take？ And what other forms should we be considering？” Mundy said.
Last month, Visa started offering crypto advisory services as part of its Consulting & Analytics.
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