Visa the payments platform, yesterday announced that it will be expanding its Fintech Fast Track Program to the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) region. This is part of its efforts in developing the next generation of digital payments solutions.
The program provides innovative fintechs with a faster and easier integration process with VisaNet, Visa’s global network, in addition to a suite of tailored digital solutions and growth capabilities. With the launch of the program in the CEMEA, fintechs can now be onboarded in as little as four weeks. The program has also been tailored to the needs of fintechs, adapting to their realities and providing them with processes that are faster, which include reducing the number of onboarding conditions including a reduction in fees. The program will also links fintechs to platforms that are already certified by Visa and connects fintechs to sponsoring banks, providing fintechs with scaling opportunities through Visa’s global network.
The Fast-Track program is one of several Visa initiatives designed to support fintech and startup companies. These include:
- Investment: Visa continuously evaluates and invests in companies that have the potential to advance digital payments for our clients and their customers. Recent fintech investments globally have included Klarna, Paidy, Marqeta and PayStack in Nigeria.
- Partnership: Many payment platforms and fintechs are already collaborating with Visa globally to create new consumer and merchant experiences, including YellowPepper, NovoPayment, Stripe, Conductor, Flutterwave and Revolut.
- Engagement: Visa’s Everywhere Initiative, a global innovation program that tasks startups with solving some of the most challenging issues in payments and commerce, has been running in CEMEA since 2017.
Andrew Torre, Regional President, CEMEA, Visa, had this to say, “The payments ecosystem is evolving at an unprecedented pace with some of the most exciting innovations coming from our region. We are actively engaged with passionate, entrepreneurial communities to understand where synergies exist in order to foster and bring new experiences to life in a secure and scalable manner in our pursuit of a digital future. Our aim is to connect new players and ideas with our network partners, so that we can deliver intuitive and relevant payment, banking and retail experiences to customers and merchants.”
Visa is inviting all innovative fintechs to apply to the program by registering online through the program website – www.visa.com/fintechcemea.