VISA
1.3.2021 10:02:12 CET | Business Wire | Press release
Visa (NYSE: V) today announced more than 100 partners across Europe have joined the Where You Shop Matters initiative to help small business owners build digital capabilities and continue serving their communities.
More than two million small firms across Europe have received support since the launch of the program in summer 2020. The announcement marks a major milestone in Visa’s commitment to help eight million small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) in Europe – and 50 million globally - to get online, adapt and future proof their business.
Across Europe, Covid-19 continues to have a devastating impact on small businesses. Research conducted by Visa revealed that 65% of small businesses are concerned about the future of their business.1 With many having to operate under restrictions and lockdowns, small businesses are increasingly moving their operations online and embracing digital payments. Visa data shows that over 10 countries in Europe have seen a 20% increase in online sales and eight in ten transactions are now contactless.
Hemlata Narasimhan, SVP, Merchant Sales and Acquiring Europe at Visa said: “Small businesses play a crucial role in our communities and many continue to operate under challenging conditions brought on by Covid-19. We continue to be inspired by the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit many small business owners have shown, adapting how they do business to keep serving their customers.
"We are proud that over two million small businesses have been able to benefit from our partner initiatives. We remain committed to continue working with our clients and partners towards an economic recovery that keeps small businesses at the heart of our communities.”
Since announcing its commitment to support eight million small businesses across Europe in their digital transformation journey, Visa has joined forces with banks, governments, commerce platforms and technology partners to digitally enable small businesses. Highlights include:
- Public Private Partnerships: In the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, Visa is working with governments to provide small business access to contactless acceptance terminals and software free of charge for the first 12 months. Governments in 29 countries have responded and raised the contactless limit to make it easier to for consumers to pay touch free.
- New acceptance technology: ‘Tap-to-Phone’, a new Visa technology that transforms mobile devices into payment terminals, is helping thousands of small business owners to accept digital payments in the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia Turkey, Ukraine and the UK.
- New online tools: Setting up a business online can be a daunting task. Visa is working with online platforms and digital marketplaces so that small stores can set up an online presence with minimal cost and hassle. These programmes have been launched in several countries across Europe supporting thousands of local businesses. Visa has also expanded its Practical Business Skills platform, a global digital platform delivering free education resources to help small and micro business (SMB) owners make confident, informed decisions to grow their businesses through expanded digital transformation.
- New banking tools: Small firms are also turning to digital banking tools to help manage their finances during a critical time for their business. In partnership with banks and FinTechs across Europe, Visa has over 30 new business card programmes that help small firms better manage their cashflow and purchasing, while offering access to innovative, new business banking tools.
- Community Engagement: Visa has expanded its Where You Shop Matters campaign, calling on consumers to shop locally and support small businesses in their communities. Examples of local campaigns to galvanise support for local shops include Champion Green (Ireland), Smart SME (Turkey) and Fiver Fest (UK).
Over 100 programmes have launched supported by industry partners including Alpha Bank, Akbank, Axerve, Banca Sella, Banco Santander, BeeDigital, CEC Bank, the Co-Operative bank, Clickandcollection.com, Fiserv, Fruugo, iCard- myPOS, Israel Credit Cards, Juni, National Bank of Greece, Tyl by NatWest, Nexi, Orderbird, Oma Savings Bank Plc, Payplug, Piraeus Bank, ShopAppy.com, Shopify, Viva Wallet, WorldLine amongst others. These initiatives have helped provide more than two million small firms with the tools, capabilities and resources to adapt, trade online and meet consumer demand for digital payments.
“Banca Sella is actively committed in supporting SMBs in their digital journey, offering smart and effective solutions to allow them to scale their business to the next level thanks to digital payments,” said Rosy Alaia, Head of Electronic Payment Systems, Banca Sella . “During the current pandemic we’ve seen a strong shift towards digital payments but is still plenty of opportunities for Italian small merchants to further improve their digital acceptance, matching new consumer trends and expectations of smart and alternative way to pay. We believe we can achieve this objective also thanks to the collaboration with partners like Visa.”
“Fiserv enables payments for millions of businesses across a wide range of sectors in Europe and globally, and we have seen firsthand how the COVID-19 pandemic has compelled small businesses to seek out technology that enables them to operate in new, more digital ways,” states Nigel Motyer, senior vice president of Global Business Solutions for Fiserv in EMEA . “Payments are an integral part of any small business, and we’re proud to partner with companies like VISA to equip businesses to meet customers’ demands for secure and convenient digital payment options.”
“For Worldline, specific customer insight and solid partnerships are key elements that ensure we continuously bring relevance and value to our merchants”, says Roger Niederer, Chief Market Officer Merchant Services at Worldline. “Together with strategic partners, such as Visa, we can broaden and deepen the reach of electronic payments in a variety of markets and verticals, work on future-oriented omni-channel solutions and help increase the conversion of sales.”
Positive start but more work to be done
With many economies in Europe beginning 2021 with further restrictions, Visa is enlisting the help of its network and calling on more partners to support its initiatives aimed at supporting small businesses with the aim of digitizing millions of small firms in this crucial period for recovery.
For more information, please visit https://www.visa.co.uk/where-you-shop-matters.html
About Visa
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of digital commerce on any device, for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa , visa.com/blog and @VisaNews .
1 Visa European SME Research in partnership with Dynata (January 2021)
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210301005196/en/
Link:
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
Interactive Brokers Expands AI Integration Capabilities – Adding ChatGPT and Grok to Its Growing Suite of Agentic Trading Tools22.6.2026 16:00:00 CEST | Press release
Additional Asset Classes Available Including Options and Futures Interactive Brokers (Nasdaq: IBKR), an automated global broker, today announced the expansion of its agentic trading capabilities with the addition of ChatGPT and Grok, further broadening a growing ecosystem of AI platform integrations that began with Claude. Available through certified AI connector marketplaces across multiple leading platforms, these integrations allow clients to research, analyze, and generate instructions with speed and efficiency to uncover new trading and investing opportunities instantly. With this release, Interactive Brokers also extends the selection of products available for order instructions to include support for options, futures and futures options in addition to equities and ETFs. “We continue to see growing interest from investors in using artificial intelligence as a more natural way to interact with financial markets,” said Milan Galik, Chief Executive Officer of Interactive Brokers. “A
IQM Named Among Quantum Collaborators in HPE's New Hybrid Quantum-HPC Platform22.6.2026 15:22:00 CEST | Press release
The collaboration will advance practical and scalable hybrid classical-quantum applications. This follows IQM's first on-premises quantum computer installation in the United States, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. IQM has sold 23 quantum systems globally to date and intends to list on Nasdaq in the United States by mid 2026. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has named IQM Quantum Computers among the companies collaborating on its hybrid classical-quantum computing platform, announced at HPE Discover Las Vegas. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260622035759/en/ IQM Radiance quantum computer at HPE Discover Las Vegas 2026 IQM, a global leader in full-stack superconducting quantum computers, is contributing superconducting quantum processor technology to the effort, in which HPE is integrating multiple quantum modalities with its Cray supercomputing infrastructure. This collaboration strengthens IQM's global expansion p
Return Abuse Goes Mainstream as Nearly Half of Consumers Use AI in Return Claims, New Riskified Research Finds22.6.2026 14:30:00 CEST | Press release
New global study shows normalization of strategic returns, widening regional differences, and rapid AI adoption reshaping ecommerce post-purchase risk Riskified (NYSE: RSKD), a global leader in ecommerce fraud detection and risk intelligence, today released a new global report, “Rewriting the Rules on Returns”, exploring how consumer attitudes and behaviors around ecommerce returns are evolving in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). The Riskified-commissioned study, conducted by eTail Insights, is based on a survey of 2,091 consumers across seven countries, alongside in-depth interviews with senior leaders from many of the largest retail companies in the world. The research finds that return abuse behaviors are increasingly normalized, while nearly half of consumers already use generative AI tools to assist with return or refund claims. At the same time, merchants are responding by tightening return policies, shortening return windows, and deploying advanced AI detection to better
Forrester Unveils Agendas For 2026 Technology & Innovation Forums In North America And EMEA22.6.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release
The Forums will equip technology leaders with the capabilities needed to operationalize AI and build high-performing IT organizations that deliver measurable business outcomes Forrester (Nasdaq: FORR) today announced the full conference agendas for its Technology & Innovation Forum Central (Austin, September 14–15, 2026), Technology & Innovation Forum EMEA (London, September 30–October 1, 2026), and Technology & Innovation Forum East (New York City, November 4–5, 2026). This year’s theme, “The IT Singularity,” dives into the new AI era in which AI has become ubiquitous and no longer a competitive advantage on its own. To succeed, technology leaders including chief information officers, chief data officers, and chief AI officers need to integrate AI into their operating models, modernize software development and IT operations, strengthen data and governance practices, and align technology investments with business strategy. Across the Forums, tech leaders and their teams will learn how
AdvanCell Establishes U.S. Global Headquarters and Secures Flagship Manufacturing Facility in Greater Boston to Drive Growth Strategy22.6.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release
New 128,000-square-foot facility in Andover will serve as U.S. global headquarters and future manufacturing center supporting the development and commercialization of ADVC001 and the Company’s pipeline of Lead-212 targeted alpha therapies Expanding U.S. operations complement the Company’s established Australian R&D and manufacturing capabilities to create a global, vertically integrated platform for radiopharmaceutical development and commercial supply AdvanCell, a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company developing innovative targeted alpha therapies for cancer, today announced the establishment of its U.S. Global Headquarters in the Greater Boston area, and the lease of a new 128,000-square-foot facility that will become the Company’s U.S. flagship manufacturing center supporting its long-term growth and commercialization strategy. The expansion marks an important milestone in the Company’s evolution into a U.S.-based radiopharmaceutical company with integrated operations spanning
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