Visa Enhances SavingsEdge for Small Business Cardholders

Visa Inc. V unveiled the revamped Visa SavingsEdge program with new integrated features in a bid to promote smarter spending and generate increased savings for eligible Visa Business credit, debit and reloadable prepaid cardholders across the United States and Canada. The program was initially launched in 2008 and continues to offer rebates to eligible cardholders on qualifying purchases across the participating merchant network.

For more than a decade, Visa SavingsEdge has offered savings, tools and resources for supporting the growth prospects of Small Business cardholders. It provides opportunities to generate savings via the facilities of Instant Coupons and Cashback Offers.  Instant Coupons offer discounts via a code at the point of sale without needing to link a card while Cashback Offers give discounts as statement credits when cardholders link their eligible Visa Business card and use it for qualifying purchases. These discounts appear as credits on future account statements.

As part of the latest set of enhancement announcements, Visa SavingsEdge currently comes with an upgraded program website equipped with enhanced features and functionality. Instant Coupons and Cashback Offers have expanded to include new merchant deals across various categories such as travel, restaurants, electronics, business services and more.

The enhanced program makes provision for receiving instant alerts whenever participating cardholders earn cashback on eligible purchases. A cashback tracker also remains in place to allow cardholders to monitor their savings earned through the program. To avail the upgraded program, previously enrolled cardholders need to re-link their cards in the enhanced program to grasp the benefits of Cashback Offers.

The recent move reflects Visa's longstanding commitment to aid small business units with technological assistance and empower them with enhanced payment solutions. Additionally, an extensive set of benefits via the Visa SavingsEdge program is expected to attract more small businesses to opt for Visa-branded payment products and therefore, boost the revenues of the leader in digital payments.

Visa seems to have undertaken a time-opportune move as well, per the data furnished by the latest Visa Small Business Pulse survey. As 77% of surveyed U.S. businesses anticipate revenue growth in 2024, this has led to an improved economic outlook as well. As a result, around 59% of U.S. small businesses (SMBs) remain optimistic about the economy, which has shot up from 47% in 2023. With 64% of SMBs inclined to invest in cost-saving technology, the enhanced Visa SavingsEdge program seems to provide a perfect ground for the company to capitalize on.

Shares of Visa have gained 19.9% in the past year compared with the industry's 14.7% growth. V currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks in the Business Services space are RCM Technologies, Inc. RCMT, Barrett Business Services, Inc. BBSI and Envestnet, Inc. ENV. RCM Technologies currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and Barrett Business Services and Envestnet carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

The bottom line of RCM Technologies outpaced estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark once, the average surprise being 16.97%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RCMT's 2024 earnings implies an improvement of 8.1% from the year-ago reported figure. The same for revenues indicates growth of 5.6% from a year ago. The consensus mark for RCM Technologies' earnings has moved 7.5% north in the past 60 days.

Barrett Business Services' earnings outpaced estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 38.56%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BBSI's 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 7.6% from the year-ago reported figure. The same for revenues implies growth of 7%. The consensus mark for Barrett Business Services' earnings has moved 2.2% north in the past 60 days.

The bottom line of Envestnet outpaced estimates in three of the last four quarters and matched the mark once, the average surprise being 9.36%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ENV's 2024 earnings implies an improvement of 23.6% from the year-ago reported figure. The same for revenues indicates growth of 9.6% from a year ago. The consensus mark for Envestnet's earnings has moved 1.2% north in the past 60 days.

Shares of RCM Technologies, Barrett Business Services and Envestnet have risen 9.8%, 48.9% and 8%, respectively, in the past year. 

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