Visa and Plug and Play Announce Alliance to Grow the Canadian Fintech Ecosystem
The collaboration aims to enable Canada’s fintech industry to flourish through Visa-powered events and opportunities where they can learn, collaborate, and grow their business.
TORONTO, Jan. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Visa Canada has announced a new alliance with Plug and Play, one of the world’s largest accelerators and venture capital firms. As a founding sponsor, Visa will support Plug and Play’s entrance into the Canadian fintech market and together, establish a platform to enable fintechs to flourish.
The Canadian fintech industry is experiencing tremendous growth with an expected compound annual growth rate of 25% through 2029[1]. Through this collaboration, fintechs will access the power, scale, trust, and security of Visa’s global network. They will also be invited to exclusive, interactive events where they can learn, collaborate, network, and connect with new partners to grow their business.
“Fintechs spark and enable innovation—they can enhance our capabilities, help clients reach new audiences and constructively challenge us. At Visa, we embrace fintechs–large and small,” said Chris Ferron, head of digital partnerships and fintech, Visa Canada. “As a leader in digital payments, we work with fintechs to shape the future of payments through strategic collaborations and product offerings that help push the boundaries of payment technology and user experiences. We look forward to working with Plug and Play to advance the mission of fintechs and make money movement easy.”
This relationship builds on Visa’s successful collaboration with Plug and Play in the U.S. which launched an Inclusive Fintech Accelerator program to help foster diversity and inclusivity in the sector by addressing some of the unique challenges faced by diverse founders in the tech industry. Founders selected to be a part of the program receive access to Visa products, APIs, and insights.
“Our joint efforts with Visa will amplify the impact of fintech startups across the region in Canada,” says Saeed Amidi, Founder and CEO of Plug and Play. “Together, we will showcase our dedication to fostering innovation and supporting the growth of groundbreaking ideas within the global entrepreneurial community.”
Visa’s Fintech Fast Track Program
Visa’s commitment to enhancing the payment ecosystem includes working shoulder to shoulder with fintechs through a number of programs created to support the industry, like Visa’s Fintech Fast Track Program. This initiative is designed to help fintech and crypto companies bring new payments solutions to market with speed, harnessing the reach, capabilities, and security of VisaNet, Visa’s global payment network. Through the program, approved fintech startups can strengthen global payout service offerings, expand capabilities, and gain access to Visa’s growing partner network of 4.1 billion cards and 80 million merchant locations worldwide in over 200 countries and territories.[2]
Learn more about Visa’s Fintech Fast Track program here.
About Visa
Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.
About Plug and Play
Plug and Play is the leading innovation platform, connecting startups, corporations, venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we’re present in 50+ locations across five continents. We offer corporate innovation programs and help our corporate partners in every stage of their innovation journey, from education to execution. We also organize startup acceleration programs and have built an in-house VC to drive innovation across multiple industries where we’ve invested in hundreds of successful companies including Dropbox, Guardant Health, Honey, Lending Club, N26, PayPal, and Rappi. For more information, visit https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/.
Media Contact:
Tracy Truong, Visa Canada
[email protected]
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[1] Research and Markets Embedded Finance Survey Q1 2022
[2] https://usa.visa.com/dam/VCOM/global/about-visa/documents/aboutvisafactsheet.pdf
