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Visa is on a mission to support content creators through the announcement of the Visa Creator Program, which aims to bolster artists, musicians, fashion designers, and filmmakers to help them create successful businesses with the help of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). According to a blog post, through the one-year program, participants will join a cohort that will be “a small enough size to facilitate community-building and support technical mentorship.” They will also receive an opportunity to “engage” with Visa clients and partners, Blockworks reports. “NFTs have the potential to become a powerful accelerator for the creator economy,” said Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto, Visa in a blog post. “We’ve been studying the NFT ecosystem and its potential impacts on the future of commerce, retail and social media. Through the Visa Creator Program, we want to help this new breed of small and micro businesses tap into new mediums for digital commerce.” Visa initially announced the ideation for...
Uber and Visa have linked up to support small businesses as the new year continues to unfold. The company has announced its Grants For Growth program which will provide small businesses in 10 U.S. cities with $1 million in funding, according to a press release. The program will be led by Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) with a focus on restaurant recovery and entrepreneurship. “We know that this year has been trying for many and that independently-owned businesses continue to face significant business challenges,” said Sarfraz Maredia, VP of the US and Canada Delivery at Uber in an official press release. “Uber and Visa are committed to supporting SMBs, especially through unexpected events, when they may need us most.”
Visa continues its commitment to Black excellence. The company has announced its inaugural class of the Visa Black Scholars and Jobs Program where 50 incoming first-year college students across the nation will receive mentorships, scholarships, and the chance to join Visa full-time after graduation. This is yet another step forward as Visa works to prioritize inclusion and diversity. “We are honored to recognize this group of extremely talented students and to support their educational aspirations through the Visa Black Scholars and Jobs Program,” said Kelly Mahon Tullier, Visa Executive Vice President, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer, and program mentor in an official statement shared with AfroTech. “At Visa, we believe that change starts with action and we are committed to advancing racial equality and closing the opportunity gap. Through this program, we are supporting a pipeline of diverse future leaders in the business and technology sectors.” Created in partnership with...
TRiBL is a social networking platform on a mission to unite the diaspora. Beginning at the end of this month, TRiBL will rebrand its mobile application to include Pan-African commerce providing greater opportunities to circulate wealth within the Black community. With partnerships from Visa and cryptocurrency firms Circle Internet Financial & Paxos Brokerage, the company will soft launch digital wallets for users to access within the application to monetize approved group chats. Cryptocurrencies will provide Black creators and influencers an opportunity to gain income from fiat rates and greater visibility for fundraising opportunities.
Visa is piloting its Tap to Phone technology in Washington, D.C., with hopes of aiding in the close of the digital divide for small Black-owned businesses and communities. This is the first time the multinational financial services corporation is bringing its new tech to the U.S. after piloting it in 30 other countries, Visa shared in a press release. Visa is also looking to provide resources and education through Visa Street Teams , an initiative it created to digitally-enable 50 million small businesses. Following this launch in D.C., Visa will be taking its tech to Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and Miami as part of its small business revitalization initiative. “The way we shop and pay has forever changed. During the pandemic, tapping to pay and contactless checkout became more commonplace – and are now expected,“ Mary Kay Bowman, Visa’s global head of buyer, seller, core and platform products, said in a press release. “With our technology, networking and community...
This week, payments giant Visa announced the appointment of a new Chief Diversity Officer and Head of Corporate Responsibility. According to a press release, Michelle Gethers-Clark will be joining Visa’s Executive Committee in this newly-expanded role to help lead a company-wide effort toward inclusion, diversity, sustainability, and social impact globally with a keen focus on equitable economic growth. “It is my honor to join the Visa team and lead our strategic inclusion and diversity, social impact and sustainability efforts globally,” said Gethers-Clark in a statement. “I bring to this role a passion for partnering with internal and external team members to continue bringing to life what this work can mean for our company, our customers and our communities around the world.” Within this role, Gethers-Clark will report directly to Chairman and CEO Al Kelly. Her various responsibilities include ensuring Visa’s organization and culture are actually building toward an inclusive...
In honor of Women’s History Month, Visa has announced a new locally-focused joint program with Black Girl Ventures to help digitally enable Black and women-owned small businesses across the U.S. The program — She’s Next — offers $10,000 grants and a one-year IFundWomen Annual Coaching Membership to 60 Black women-owned businesses. It aims to address the needs of local entrepreneurs who populate cities with the highest concentration of Black-owned businesses in America – including Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington, D.C., a press release shares. The new slate of programming includes grants and mentorship, new educational and technology resources, as well as direct community relationships in partnership with Black Girl Ventures. “Black Girl Ventures is proud to partner with Visa to assist these entrepreneurs and provide a megaphone to each community’s most pressing needs,” said Shelly Bell, founder of Black Girl Ventures, in a statement. “While the Black...
Black women entrepreneurs receive more support as Visa announces a new program to distribute $100,000 in grants to U.S.-based Black women-led businesses as part of their newest series of initiatives to help small businesses, Forbes reports . Grant recipients will be able to receive mentorship from private coaches, educational resources, access to a network of women business owners, and an annual membership for IFundWomen , a platform that provides funding and coaching to women-owned businesses. The grant program will give out ten $10,000 grants via iFundWomen with a goal to close the funding gap for Black women entrepreneur recipients. “The $10,000 is not a random number,” says Suzan Kereere, Visa’s global head of merchant sales and acquiring. “For many entrepreneurs, when they look for seed funding or funding to go from proof of concept to launch, the sweet spot is about $10,000. The $8,000 to $14,000 range is the amount of capital you need to get an ordinary small business off the...
For the past six years, CNBC has chosen 50 start-ups to be a part of the CNBC Disruptor 50 list. Out of 1,000 nominated companies, Rodney Williams’ LISNR was chosen as a part of the 2018 list , marking the companies third appearance for its innovative data-over-audio transmission technology. LISNR uses audio to transmit data between devices . Rather than Wi-fi or Bluetooth technology, the low-power data transmission that LISNR uses lets devices send fast, secure information throughout the world via inaudible smart tones. Last year LISNR paired up with Ticketmaster to create technology that would let different venues check attendees into their events quickly, easily and securely. The CNBC Disruptor 50 Advisory Council is made up of 52 leaders in entrepreneurship and innovation. This group reviewed and ranked the required quantitative and qualitative criteria that the nominees were required to submit in order to figure out the importance and ability to disrupt pre-established...