Visa has announced it is expanding its Fintech Fast Track programme beyond card issuance to connect members to Visa’s real-time money movement platform, Visa Direct.
By enhancing the North America Fintech Fast Track programme the company is aiming to equip early-stage fintechs with the necessary tools to stand out in an evolving payments landscape. It is also seeking to tap into growing demand from fintech builders for new ways to differentiate their offerings including embedding payment capabilities which has proven to be a successful strategy for speeding up transactions, the firm said.
“Fintechs are a vital growth engine for the payments industry, and Visa is committed to supporting their progress,” said Vanessa Colella, SVP, Global Head of Innovation and Digital Partnerships, Visa.
She added: “The enhanced Fast Track programme offers fintechs personalised tools and resources to innovate and excel. We believe this will be a gamechanger that will catalyse new growth opportunities within this community, and further our mission to uplift everyone, everywhere.”
Greater options for fintechs
With the expansion of Fast Track to include Visa Direct, fintechs can now launch programmes through their financial institutions to enable transfers to eligible cards, bank accounts, and wallets globally. Person-to-person payments and account-to-account transfers are among the use cases supported by the feature as well as business and government payouts to individuals or small businesses, and merchant settlements and refunds.
The Fintech Fast Track programme offers partners several options from the Visa portfolio including Merchant Search API, Visa Stop Payment Service and Visa Risk Manager, a solution which helps financial institutions manage and mitigate payment risks. In addition, its partners can also now work with the Visa Consulting & Analytics team on one project from a curated selection of offerings, specifically designed to help early stage fintechs grow their portfolio.
Meanwhile, the programme includes the opportunity for up to $100K worth of Amazon Web Services (AWS) Activate credits for cloud consumption, business support, and personalised content and offers. Over the last year, Visa has signed 42 new clients to Fintech Fast Track in North America.
“Our portfolio of fintech partners is diverse and continues to expand. This generation of fintechs is addressing challenges and pain points for specific groups, professions, and online communities, and designing tools to bridge the gaps in the payment ecosystem,” Colella said.
