Visa adds partner toolkit, new fintechs to fast-track programme to help restore global economy

4th December 2020 By: Schalk Burger - Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

As money management becomes increasingly digital, fintechs are playing a pivotal role in helping to restore and rebuild the global economy, says global payments and financial services company Visa.

Visa has added a new Partner Toolkit and Visa Ready Fintech Enabler certification to its Fast Track programme to increase support for the ecosystem.

The Fast Track programme has been expanded to include digital wallets, financial inclusion, business-to-business (B2B) and digital currency payments.

The Fast Track Partner Toolkit helps fintechs to accelerate their growth and better serve their customers, while the certification programme, called Visa Ready for Fintech Enablers, makes it easier for fintechs to quickly connect with certified partners for digital issuance and other key services, the company says.

The partner toolkit was designed specifically for fintech partners that onboard with the programme. The toolkit was created to accelerate a company’s growth and provides access to Visa’s experts in strategy, marketing, design, risk management and more.

Using the toolkit, partners can leverage educational resources like payments bootcamps to help upskill a company’s personnel with knowledge of the industry, tap into key strategic resources to craft customised benchmarking studies and use Visa’s online card design tools to help build and launch a card into market quickly.

"As one of the main drivers of disruption, fintechs are reshaping the financial services industry by harnessing emerging technologies and creating new business models to help solve the unique challenges faced by businesses on the African continent.

"Fintech leaders around the world are increasingly choosing to work with Visa across key categories including digital wallets, digital banking, ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’, B2B payments, cross-border remittance, bill payments, payments infrastructure and person-to-person payments."

Meanwhile, the Visa Ready certification is designed to help technology companies build and launch payment solutions that meet Visa's global standards around security and functionality. These companies are, in turn, helping fintechs around the world build their own products by providing the solutions and expertise they need to get up and running.

"The Visa Ready for Fintech Enablers establishes a certified ecosystem of partners who are experts in the capabilities fintechs need to launch and operate products effectively on the Visa network. Recently, the Visa Ready programme has added new partners from across the globe. Similarly, Visa has certified banking identification number sponsors across the world that help stand up programmes for fintechs."

“It is thrilling to see fintech partners use our programmes and network to digitise financial services and improve the lives of the consumers and businesses they touch. Through the Fast Track programme, we are providing fintechs with a simple set of tools to bring their products to life. The resources we provide, such as online licensing and card design, have helped make Fast Track the leading programme for fintechs,” said Visa senior VP and fintech global head Terry Angelos.

“In South Africa, our goal is to innovate to enable simpler and easier acceptance. The Fast Track programme is an opportunity for Visa to work with new distributors and traditional acquirers to grow acceptance with smaller sellers. Fintechs are driving financial inclusion, as they are creating solutions that enable small businesses to digitise and also bank the unbanked. It is an exciting space with a long runway for growth,” says Visa South Africa country manager Aldo Laubscher.

Visa is expanding access to digital payments by meeting evolving consumer preferences for managing their money and transforming some formerly closed-loop systems limited to certain geographies or functionalities into open ones, giving users greater choice, security and utility.

"To advance financial inclusion and social impact, the company is ensuring that consumers and businesses in all parts of the world have access to the financial tools and products to improve their lives, which is core to Visa’s mission."

Further, Visa is transforming B2B payments, a segment that represents $120-trillion in opportunity, in its work with Fast Track members across the world. It is also working closely with companies to connect digital currencies and its existing network of 61-million merchants.