CA-VISA-INC.
Visa (NYSE: V) and Visa Foundation today made several announcements related to their ongoing commitment to support small and micro businesses (SMBs) across APEC and the world. First, Visa Foundation is pledging $100 million to support underserved and women-led SMBs in APEC economies over five years. Visa announced it has exceeded its three-year goal of digitally enabling 50 million SMBs globally by June 2023 and has now helped nearly 67 million SMBs. To deepen its support for global SMBs, Visa launched a new initiative to further accelerate digital enablement of underserved SMBs in the United States and developing economies with an initial focus on APEC economies including Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, and Vietnam. Visa and Visa Foundation made these announcements as part of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum Economic Leaders and CEO Summit hosted by the United States in the City of San Francisco.
Small businesses are the heartbeat of the global economy and of their local communities, representing about 90% of businesses and more than 50% of employment worldwide. To accelerate access for underserved and women-led SMBs in APEC economies, Visa Foundation has pledged $100 million over five years to advance digital financial inclusion, stimulate job creation, and increase access to capital to drive economic mobility. Through this pledge, the Foundation will collaborate with and complement the work of local partners to drive access for underserved communities.
In parallel, Visa’s multi-year goal helped SMBs meet their evolving payment needs in an increasingly dynamic commerce ecosystem, focusing on digitizing more ways to be paid by customers, ways to pay for supplies, goods and services, and providing access to financial skills through training and education. Of the nearly 67 million SMBs reached by Visa, an estimated 29.6 million are from economies in the APEC region, including 10.9 million women-led SMBs.
Recognizing the critical needs of SMBs, Visa announced new SMB accelerator initiatives in the United States and more than 15 developing economies. Visa is prioritizing economies that have clear digital development needs including APEC economies in Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, and Vietnam. In the economies where Visa will focus, cash still accounts for the majority of the ways businesses and individuals buy and sell and much of the population does not have access to digital payments.
“Small businesses are anything but small to Visa. Over the past three years, we’ve seen them shift from leveraging digital payments to survive, to now harnessing the power of digital to improve efficiency and reach new customers,” said Alfred F. Kelly, Jr., Executive Chairman at Visa and Co-Chair of the APEC CEO Summit 2023. “Visa is committed to continue expanding equitable access and extending digitization for underserved and women-led SMBs globally, so that payments can truly be a catalyst for growth.”
These expanded SMB accelerator initiatives will also focus on a wider set of partnerships with ecosystem participants that serve smaller sellers and seek to fast-track solutions deployment for SMBs.
Powering SMB Growth Globally, Year-Round
Visa’s 50 million SMB digital enablement milestone is just one piece of its and Visa Foundation’s ongoing commitment to help small and micro businesses thrive. Since April 2020, Visa Foundation has supported localized programs and solutions to enable small business owners to meet the fast-changing needs of commerce, trade and consumers in different parts of the world. Visa offers numerous payment services designed to help SMBs pay and get paid, and includes Visa Business credit and debit cards, rewards programs, business and payment management tools, fraud and security services, among many other solutions. Visa also provides financial education and business skills training, including Practical Business Skills globally and Enko in Latin America.
About Visa Inc.
Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.
About Visa Foundation
Visa Foundation seeks to support inclusive economies where individuals, businesses and communities can thrive. Through grant making and investing, the Foundation prioritizes the resilience and growth of micro and small businesses that benefit women. The Foundation also supports broader community needs and disaster response in times of crisis. Visa Foundation is registered in the U.S. as a 501(c)3 entity. For more information visit: visafoundation.org.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231115886978/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
NetJets to Bring Starlink High-Speed Connectivity to Fleet10.12.2025 15:05:00 CET | Press release
The agreement between the two companies will bring reliable Wi-Fi connectivity to one of the world’s largest fleets of jets, ensuring a seamless, best-in-class experience for Owners NetJets, the global leader in private aviation, and Starlink have entered into an agreement to bring high-speed in-flight connectivity to 600 aircraft across NetJets’ global fleet by the end of 2026, unlocking a new level of productivity and exceptional travel experiences in the air. “This agreement with Starlink positions NetJets to continue delivering exceptional travel experiences for our Owners and their guests,” said Patrick Gallagher, President, NetJets Aviation. “With Starlink, travel is elevated with reliable connectivity whether our Owners are flying for business or leisure—as seamless connectivity is critical to the experience our Owners need and deserve.” This multi-year, service level agreement paves the way for NetJets to quickly and seamlessly outfit its aircraft across the U.S. and Europe, wi
Mercator Ocean International Makes AI Ocean Forecasting Operational with GLONET Validated by OceanBench at NeurIPS 202510.12.2025 15:00:00 CET | Press release
New benchmark sets the first science-based quality standard for AI ocean models, enabling GLONET’s operational deployment At NeurIPS 2025, one of the world’s leading AI conferences, Mercator Ocean unveiled OceanBench, the first open benchmark designed to assess AI Ocean forecasting models. This milestone follows the publication of Mercator Ocean’s AI model GLONET in September. Together, OceanBench and GLONET represent a decisive step toward integrating artificial intelligence into operational ocean forecasting, strengthening Europe’s leadership in trustworthy, AI-driven predictions at global scale. Presented by Anass El Aouni, Oceanographer and machine learning (ML) researcher, and Quentin Gaudel, ML Systems Architect, OceanBench establishes a unified standard to evaluate AI models against fundamental ocean dynamics. GLONET is the first forecasting system to be validated through OceanBench for operational use. Anass El Aouni : “OceanBench provides a transparent standard to evaluate AI-
Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute and Baszucki Group Team Up to Advance Landmark Brain Study with Metabolic Health Markers10.12.2025 15:00:00 CET | Press release
The collaboration seeks to study gut-brain connections in neurological disorders Baszucki Group today announced an expanded commitment to the landmark Cleveland Clinic Brain Study. Launched in 2022, this ambitious longitudinal study plans to follow healthy individuals over a 20-year period with the goal of identifying early disease markers and therapeutic targets needed to prevent and ultimately cure neurological diseases. The commitment from Baszucki Group brings their total donation to the study to $450,000. The commitment was announced at Keep Memory Alive’s annual Summer Festival & Rodeo at Shakespeare Ranch in Glenbrook, Nevada, an event benefiting the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and hosted by Larry and Camille Ruvo, co-founders of Keep Memory Alive. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251208681513/en/ Baszucki Group and Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute expand impact of landmark brain study to inv
CSG Xponent Sweeps Up Top-Tier Analyst, Industry Recognition for Customer Journey Management, Analytics10.12.2025 14:30:00 CET | Press release
Independent evaluations from QKS Group, FinTech Futures and CMP Research validate CSG Xponent as a driver of real-time journey orchestration and analytics CSG® (NASDAQ: CSGS) today announced that its flagship customer engagement platform, CSG Xponent, has earned multiple honors for journey management, customer analytics and personalization. This third-party recognition underscores the strength of CSG Xponent as a full-service engagement platform – one that seamlessly combines in-depth journey analytics with real-time orchestration. In the past month alone, CSG Xponent has been named: A Leader in QKS Group’s SPARK Matrix™: Customer Journey Management, 2025. Winner for “Best Personalisation and User Experience Solution” in the FinTech Futures 2025 Banking Tech Awards. A Core Performing provider in CMP Research’s Prism for Customer Analytics. “CSG Xponent moves beyond broad segmentation to pinpoint each customer’s journey state, whether stalled, at-risk or ready to convert, and then quant
AI Power Surge and Energy Transition Push Global Project Finance into a New Era10.12.2025 14:30:00 CET | Press release
70% of finance professionals expect infrastructure to drive the strongest growth, followed by renewables (48%) and TMT (43%).53% now view private equity as a primary source of equity funding, signaling a major shift in capital dynamics.80% cite KYC requirements as the top execution challenge amid rising deal complexity. Global project finance is entering a transformative era, driven by soaring demand for energy capacity, accelerated digitalization and large-scale infrastructure upgrades, reshaping investment priorities worldwide. These insights come from new research commissioned by CSC, based on responses from 200 project finance professionals, revealing a market shifting toward more complex, capital-intensive projects and a greater reliance on private capital. CSC’s latest report, Project Finance at an Inflection Point: Adapting to New Realities1, reveals a sector that is rapidly expanding in both scale and complexity driven by capital increasingly targeting long-term, strategically
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom