Visa Champions a New Decade for Women’s Empowerment
March 03 2020 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
In advance of International Women’s Day, Visa
unveils grant programs with Hand in Hand International and
IFundWomen
New study commissioned by Visa shows 66% of
female entrepreneurs report difficulty funding businesses
Kicking off Women’s History
Month, Visa (NYSE:V) today announced two new partnerships
bolstering the company’s commitment to women’s economic
empowerment. Hand In Hand International and IFundWomen will join Visa to help provide
both educational resources and funding for women entrepreneurs
around the globe to help them build and grow their businesses. The
global rate of female entrepreneurship has been increasing more
quickly than that of male entrepreneurs1, with more than 250
million women around the world engaged in
entrepreneurship2.
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“Women power economies around the world and increasingly are a
driving force in the creation of new businesses,” said Al Kelly,
chief executive officer and chairman, Visa. “Visa is committed to
using the full power of our network, brand and financial resources
to put a spotlight on this growing economic force and help female
entrepreneurs achieve their dreams.”
About the Partnerships:
- IFundWomen: IFundWomen is a funding and education
platform that provides access to capital through grants and
crowdfunding, expert business coaching and a network of women
business owners. Visa’s new global partnership with IFundWomen is
specifically designed to help entrepreneurs secure the funding they
need through a series of grant contests. To find out more and apply
for a grant, entrepreneurs can visit IFundWomen.com/Visa.
- Hand in Hand International: As part of the company’s
mission to enable individuals, businesses and economies to thrive,
Visa is launching a $2.4 million, three-year partnership with Hand
in Hand International, a global non-profit organization that
focuses on developing economies in Africa, South Asia and the
Middle East. Visa’s partnership with Hand in Hand International
will focus on providing business education and broadened financial
services access to 10,000 micro businesses in Kenya – at least 75%
of which are owned by women. The partnership will further women’s
economic empowerment, which has a multiplier effect3, boosting
economic growth and leading to greater development outcomes.
In conjunction with the partnerships, Visa today unveiled
initial findings from the second annual “State of Female
Entrepreneurship” report4. The annual study seeks to understand the
goals, aspirations and challenges facing women business owners
today. Key findings included that funding remains a top challenge:
79% of women entrepreneurs in the United States feel more empowered
now than they did five years ago, yet 66% report difficulty in
obtaining the funding they need.
“In an increasingly digital world, businesses need to constantly
adapt to shifting consumer preferences. But keeping up is
challenging, especially for a small business. The women
entrepreneurs I have met echo a need for more access to capital to
fund, run and grow their businesses,“ said Suzan Kereere, global
head of merchant sales and acquiring, Visa. “We are excited to help
level the playing field through more access to tools and grants
this year, and will continue to champion women in all facets of
life in the pursuit of an inclusive digital society.”
Visa has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to empower women
through partnerships, programs and sponsorships. The company’s more
recent efforts include:
- Women in Business:
- Female Founder Collective: Visa has entered its second
year of partnership with Rebecca Minkoff’s Female Founder
Collective. To kickoff, Visa will host a workshop at Female
Founders Day, where a diverse mix of lending and digital payment
experts will discuss strategies small business can use for loans
and capital.
- Women’s World Banking: In 2017, the Visa Foundation made
their inaugural grant of $20 million to Women’s World Banking to
help women-led micro and small business owners increase access to
capital and to help grow their businesses. The program is on track
to reach 1 million women by the end of the year.
- She’s Next, Empowered by Visa: In 2019, Visa launched
its women-owned small business initiative, She’s Next, Empowered by
Visa, with workshops in New York, Atlanta, Toronto and Cape Town at
the World Economic Forum in South Africa. She’s Next leverages
Visa’s brand and network to empower women entrepreneurs with tools
to build their businesses, ultimately creating a ripple effect
throughout their communities.
- Women in Sport:
- The SheBelieves Cup: As the sponsor of the SheBelieves
Cup, Visa will present the first-ever MVP trophy to the most
inspiring and empowering athlete on the field during the
tournament, selected by a committee of former female footballers.
Visa will also host a Practical Money Skills workshop at the
SheBelieves Summit, which underscores the importance of financial
literacy and how to plan ahead for financial success.
- The Second Half: Inspired by Visa’s groundbreaking
partnership with UEFA Women’s Football and the FIFA Women’s World
CupTM, Visa recently announced the launch of The Second Half; a
career development program to support female footballers in Europe,
as they consider their careers beyond the football pitch.
- Olympic and Paralympic Games: Visa’s sponsored athlete
program of Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, Team Visa, has been
comprised of more than 50% women athletes looking back historically
at the full roster. For Tokyo 2020, Visa is supporting more than 50
female Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls from around the world.
Additionally, in the lead up to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing
2022 - Visa, the China Women’s Development Foundation and Beijing
Sport University announced a program aimed to empower women to grow
their small businesses and contribute to local social-economic
development and sustainable growth.
About Visa Inc.
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 Gem 2016/2017 Women's Entrepreneurship Report 2 Gem 2018/2019
Women's Entrepreneurship Report 3 International Monetary Fund’s
Pursuing Women's Economic Empowerment 4 Visa 2020 State of Female
Entrepreneurship Report, conducted by Logica Research on behalf of
Visa to 400 adult, female small business owners in February
2020
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200303005388/en/
Visa Sheerin Salimi shesalim@visa.com
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