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Visa launches programme for fintech and payment startups in UAE

Tuesday 1 February 2022 12:55 CET | News

Visa has announced The Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI), a global open innovation programme, inviting fintech and payment startups in UAE to showcase their innovative products and solutions.

The programme’s finalists are reportedly gaining firsthand exposure to key fintech stakeholders across banking, merchant, VC, and government sectors. Winners of the competition will be awarded monetary prizes and the opportunity to partner with Visa.

This year’s programme has expanded to include startups that are using cryptocurrency and Visa Direct, a payment solution that can help businesses move money to endpoints worldwide via card and account rails. Finalists from across the world that are driving economic growth – including one from CEMEA - will converge for the global VEI finale in Qatar this November 2022 where up to USD 170,000 in total prize money will be awarded. 

PAYZE was the 2021 VEI CEMEA Winner. PAYZE is an ecommerce-oriented fintech that enables businesses across CIS countries to accept payments from around the world through a single integration. With the support of Visa’s network and a cash prize of USD 25,000, the PAYZE team is busy fulfilling their vision, having processed more than 250,000 transactions across 2021. 

The competition also saw Karachi-based fintech, Safepay, win the CEMEA Audience Favourite award and USD 10,000 in prize money. Safepay specialises in secure payment processing for ecommerce stores and helps merchants increase checkout conversions, expedite receivables, and streamline sales by allowing their customers to pay online.

The VEI network includes 8,500 startups from around the world, which continues to grow every year. Since its launch in 2015, the programme has helped startups from over 100 countries collectively raise more than USD 2.5 billion in funding, addressing one of the biggest challenges faced by early-stage entrepreneurs. Every year, the scope of VEI is expanded to engage with unique startups and solve unique problems in the world of payments. 

This year, the programme will have a clear focus on CEMEA, a region with tremendous opportunity for fintechs that are developing innovative products and solutions aimed at supporting the community. The latest edition of VEI sees two new editions in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as the global finale in Qatar in November 2022.

Visa does not acquire any equity from Visa Everywhere Initiative competitors as part of this competition.


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Keywords: Visa, fintech, startup
Categories: Banking & Fintech
Companies: Visa
Countries: United Arab Emirates
This article is part of category

Banking & Fintech

Visa

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