Visa commits aid to 10 million SMEs in Asia Pacific

It is part of an initiative to support 50 million small businesses worldwide.

Visa will support 10 million small businesses across Asia Pacific through programmes that will help them accept and make payments digitally both online and in-store, according to a news release.

The pledge is part of a global programme that will see Visa supporting 50 million small businesses worldwide. It will focus on four areas, namely, empowering digital-first firms, encouraging digital payments, incentives for neighbourhood support, and developing positioning in order to promote the digital economy.

Visa is teaming up with mobile shopping platforms Shopify and Boutir to help local businesses go online, in addition to its partnership with IFundWomen for grants and training to Indian women-owned SMEs.

Visa and its partners have also launched tap-to-phone solutions in Malaysia with other Asia Pacific markets, such as Australia, Hong Kong, India, Taiwan and Vietnam to follow. Moreover, the “Where You Shop Matters” initiative for entrepreneurs has been piloted in Australia and New Zealand and will be expanded to Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.