Visa Relaunches SavingsEdge Discount Program for Small Businesses

Visa has relaunched its SavingsEdge program, aimed at helping small businesses.

“For more than a decade, Visa SavingsEdge has provided eligible small business cardholders with the savings, tools and resources to help them grow,” the company said in a news release Thursday (June 13). “The latest enhancements introduce a more dynamic platform with new offerings and features designed to support smarter spending and saving.”

The company points to the most recent “Visa Small Business Pulse Report,” which shows resilience among small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) in America. 

For example, 77% of surveyed U.S. businesses project revenue growth for 2024, consistent with their experience in 2023, while 59% expressed optimism about the future of the economy, up from 47% in 2023, and 64% planning to invest in cost-saving technology.

“Owning a small business can face challenges, and businesses need every advantage they can get, no matter the economic climate,” said Veronica Fernandez, SVP and North America head of Visa Commercial Solutions. 

“We know it’s important for business owners to save on products and services they need to run their business smoothly.”

According to the release, the SavingsEdge program now includes a refreshed program website with greater features and functionality, as well as hundreds of added merchant offers via Instant Coupons and Cashback Offers in more categories.

SMBs can also get notifications in real-time when participating cardholders earn cashback on qualifying transactions, as well as a cashback tracker to see how much they saved.

Meanwhile, recent research by Visa and PYMNTS Intelligence examines the embedded lending opportunity presented by SMBs.

“We see 80% of lenders offering embedded lending products to consumers,” Arvind Ronta, global head of BNPL and embedded finance at Visa, said in an interview with PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster. “But there’s a huge gap in how these lenders are offering embedded lending products to small businesses.”

The result? “A huge and material unmet need that presents an opportunity for lenders to engage and retain SMB customers,” Ronta said.

He added that lenders across six major economies are broadly missing the opportunity to not only meet a crucial marketplace need, but also to take hold of the sizable potential that the SMB market represents.

When it comes to smaller businesses, the research showed that just 30% to 50% of lenders, depending on the market, offer these products.

The report emphasized the vital nature of credit access for SMBs. Stable cash flow is key for sustainable business growth, but many of these businesses struggle to find credit.