The HDFC Bank on Wednesday launched SmartHub Merchant Solutions 3.0, the country’s first comprehensive banking and payment solution for merchants.

This solution allows merchants and self-employed professionals to instantly open a current account and start accepting payments in-store, online, and on-the-go.

The merchant solution was launched at a virtual event held in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The bank hopes to reach out to more than 20 million small and medium merchants and other professional services across the metro, semi-urban and rural areas in the next three years through this comprehensive solution.

SmartHub 3.0 will be available in different forms like application-based, web-based and also a range of point of sale (PoS) devices, which will enable efficiencies in business

The HDFC Bank began working on this merchant solution 18 months ago.

“Small and medium businesses are the backbone of our economy. We are delighted to launch SmartHub 3.0 for them,” said Parag Rao, HDFC country head – payments, consumer finance, digital banking and marketing, while addressing a virtual press conference on Wednesday.

“Greater adoption of digital platforms by small and medium businesses is a critical step in achieving the objective of Digital India,” he said.

This comprehensive digital platform solution will fulfill every need of merchants and professional services in large metros as well as rural areas.

“SmartHub 3.0 offers the ideal platform for small merchants and self-employed professionals to join the digital ecosystem through an easy, convenient and secure solution,” said TR Ramachandran, group country manager, India and South Asia, Visa.

The solution allows users to accept payments in multiple forms, including quick response code (QR) and our newly launched tap to phone solution, allowing millions of merchants to offer a superior customer experience and achieve growth in business, Ramachandran said.

People can join SmartHub 3.0 by clicking on “https://hdfcbank.com/smarthub”.

They can also view a video on SmartHub 3.0 by clicking on “https://youtu.be/r5Xtabl-sHo”.

HDFC Bank is the leading player in the merchant acquiring space in the country.

It processes 48 per cent of the overall card transactions at the merchant level in terms of volumes and about a fourth through a unified payments interface.