Visa Launches Foundation With Inaugural Grant to Women’s World Banking
October 24 2017 - 2:30AM
Business Wire
$20 million, multi-year commitment will
empower two million enterprises by 2022
Visa (NYSE:V) today marked the launch of the newly-incorporated
Visa Foundation, which has been established as part of Visa’s
larger social impact strategy that will prioritize the growth of
micro and small enterprises around the world, enabling individuals,
businesses, and economies to thrive. To mark its inception, the
Visa Foundation is making its first financial commitment of up to
$20 million to Women’s World Banking.
At the heart of the Visa Foundation is the belief that micro and
small enterprises are the backbone of the global economy. In fact,
small and medium enterprises account for more than 90 percent of
enterprises worldwide, and contribute 50-60 percent of global
employment.1 However, these segments struggle to access the
financial tools, capital and training programs required to enable
them to fully thrive. The Visa Foundation’s core mission is to
support efforts to rectify this imbalance.
“As a brand and a business, Visa has always stood for making a
positive and transformational impact on the world,” said Al Kelly,
chief executive officer for Visa and Visa Foundation board member.
“The Visa Foundation has been established to build on a long
history of corporate giving and will accelerate the delivery of our
social impact goals. Our intention is to establish a legacy of
meaningful contributions by helping millions of microenterprises
thrive.”
Women’s World Banking Support
The Visa Foundation’s first multi-year initiative will be a
five-year, up to $20 million grant to Women’s World Banking aimed
at supporting millions of women-led small and micro
enterprises.
Despite their contribution to both the formal and informal
economy worldwide, women-owned micro and small businesses are
unserved or underserved financially. According to the World Bank
there is a staggering $300 billion annual credit deficit for formal
sector women-owned small and medium sized businesses.2 Financial
products such as savings, credit and insurance can help low-income
women to build their assets, grow their businesses, and ensure
economic resilience in challenging times.
With the Visa Foundation’s support, Women’s World Banking will
develop sustainable solutions for women entrepreneurs to build
their enterprises and establish financial safety nets while also
advancing leadership skills and financial capabilities. Over the
next five years, the program will:
- Develop, test and scale innovative and
sustainable products, that may include bundled financial services,
business continuity insurance and technology-based solutions that
drive positive financial behaviors
- Expand Women’s World Banking’s global
network of partner financial service providers to effectively serve
50 million more financially underserved individuals
- Measure the impact that having access
to improved financial services has on women enterprise owners
- Drive knowledge sharing, innovation and
best practices within the global community on how to best support
small and micro enterprises
The Visa Foundation grant is designed to support Women’s World
Banking’s efforts around the world, with an initial focus in India,
Mexico, Egypt and Nigeria, as key markets to drive growth among
low-income, women-owned small enterprises.
“Women and women-owned businesses continue to be
disproportionately excluded from accessing formal financial
services, impacting hundreds of millions of individuals with a
significant effect on families and communities,” said Stephen
Kehoe, Visa’s senior vice president for global financial inclusion,
speaking at Women’s World Banking Making Finance Work for Women
Global Summit in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. “By supporting measures
to include women, there is a strong multiplier effect in terms of
increased financial health for all. For this reason, the Visa
Foundation chose to focus its first grant on women-owned
enterprises and has selected Women’s World Banking as our first
grant recipient.”
“Women’s World Banking is thrilled to be Visa Foundation’s
inaugural grantee. We share a vision to serve low-income women
entrepreneurs whose contribution to economic growth is far below
its potential,” said Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO of
Women's World Banking. “One billion women worldwide are unbanked, a
significant number of them business owners. Through this
partnership, we will deliver solutions that drive women’s access
and usage of innovative financial services, so that they create
economic opportunity for themselves and their families.”
About the Visa Foundation
The Visa Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Visa, works with
charitable organizations to support underserved people and
communities. As its central focus, the Visa Foundation is committed
to helping low-income, financially underserved micro and small
enterprises around the world to thrive and prosper. The Foundation,
registered in the U.S. as a 501(c)(3) entity, also supports broader
community needs as well as humanitarian responses in times of
crisis.
[1] International Finance Corporation, “IFC Issue Brief: Small
and Medium Enterprises.” March 2012
[2] International Financial Corporation, “Closing the Credit Gap
for Formal and Informal Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises.”
2013
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171023006560/en/
Visa Inc.Marni Goldbergglobalmedia@visa.comAndy
WoolnoughCEMEAmedia@visa.com
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