Visa's latest initiative to champion UK fintechs
The UK Fintech sector has demonstrated incredible resilience throughout the pandemic and, despite the challenges 2020 brought, it has continued to be a world-leading hub for innovation.
As the way we pay for goods and services continues to evolve at pace, Fintechs are playing a pivotal role in providing consumers with both the flexibility and the choice to help them adapt to the ‘new normal’.
As Visa, we are a long-standing champion of Fintechs. We support them, partner with them and invest in them because we believe by working together, we can deliver the next generation of payment solutions.
With a 60-year history in pioneering payments innovation, Visa has been at the forefront of encouraging new solutions in our sector and supporting newly founded Fintechs grow. Ultimately, it is this investment in the next generation of Fintechs that will make life better for consumers, businesses and communities, particularly as we look towards economic recovery.
Our latest step to support UK Fintechs is the return of our Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI) - a global competition that provides exposure and the opportunity to win a monetary prize for startups solving the payments and commerce challenges of tomorrow.
Since its launch in 2015, startups in more than 100 countries have collectively raised more than $2.5 billion in funding through the Visa Everywhere Initiative. One of the winners from 2020 was Jona Doda of the UK Fintech RentProfile, who pioneered an easier and safer way for letting agents, landlords and tenants to send money to each other during the pandemic.
Our 2021 edition is our most expansive competition yet and, through our partnerships with TechCrunch and LGBTQ+ network StartOut, our most inclusive too. We are looking for creative minds, especially amongst the small business community, who are solving the payments and commerce challenges faced by businesses of all sizes and sectors, offering them a chance to win up to $50,000 USD in funding.
We are confident that by continuing to work closely with Fintech companies of all sizes we will be able to help develop and grow innovative and exciting new solutions that make the world of payments better.
To learn more about the application process, the eligibility requirements, and more about Visa’s ongoing support for Fintechs, please click here. I encourage as many UK Fintechs as possible to register and get involved!