Social Impact

We want everyone, everywhere to thrive

Social Impact is part of Visa’s commitment to advancing inclusive, equitable and sustainable growth for everyone, everywhere. Our focus is on driving initiatives that use the scale of our network, our products, our financial resources, and the collective expertise and commitment of our employees, to reach those traditionally underserved, providing them with access to resources that can help improve their economic livelihoods, businesses and communities.

Areas we’re focused on

Small and micro business

Small and micro businesses are the backbone of the global economy. We are committed to providing tools and resources to help empower them with skills, solutions and access to networks and financial services to fund, run and grow their businesses.

PRIORITIES

Financial education and digital skill building
Digital commerce and capabilities
Equitable access to capital

Equity and inclusion

We believe that communities and economies thrive when all individuals and business are included in the formal financial system and can benefit from financial and digital access. Our initiatives and partnerships focus on helping to enable equitable access to the financial and digital ecosystem for everyone, everywhere.

PRIORITIES

Women's economic advancement
Racial equity
Financial inclusion and digital equity
Financial education

Community

We are committed to strengthening the communities in which we live and work by using our resources, network and the talent of our global employee base to make a positive social impact where it is most needed.

PRIORITIES

Disaster and humanitarian relief
Employee volunteerism and giving
Philanthropy

Doing measurable good

Small and micro business

50 M

We are committed to digitally-enable 50 million small and micro businesses worldwide by 2023, as part of our efforts to advance digital equity.

Equity and inclusion

500 M

We met our goal to provide 500 million unbanked/underserved people access to digital payment accounts by 2020 and are continuing the work.

Community

85 %

We had 85% of our employees participate in Visa programs to give back to their communities in FY 2021.

Philanthropic giving

In FY 2021, Visa Inc. contributed more than $21.5 million to charities around the globe, while Visa Foundation disbursed $25.9 million in grants.

For more detailed data, please see our Environmental, Social and Governance resources.

For more information about grants, see our notice on Charitable Giving.

Featured programs and partnerships

Practical Business Skills

Global digital platform powered by Visa, delivering free education resources to help small and micro business owners start, manage and grow their businesses.

Women’s World Banking

Visa Foundation partnership to financially empower millions of women-led micro and small enterprises globally.

Hand in Hand

Visa partnership with Hand in Hand to provide more than 10,000 micro businesses in Kenya, 75% of which are women-owned, with access to business and financial skills education, and broadened access to financial services.

UMKM Bisa!

Visa partnership with Gojek in Indonesia to provide small and micro business owners with online lessons and resources to help them maintain and grow their businesses.

Village Capital

Visa Foundation partnership to support accelerators working to close the financing gap facing underserved entrepreneurs in Latin America, with a focus on food and agriculture innovation.

International Fund for Agricultural Development

Visa Foundation partnership creating employment opportunities for rural youth in Africa by designing a network of innovative and integrated agribusiness hubs to build entrepreneurial capacity and technical/managerial skills.

TechnoServe

Visa Foundation partnership to strengthen the gender diversity of local farmer cooperatives in India and their institutional capacity to make them resilient to economic shocks.

IFundWomen

Global partnership to help women entrepreneurs secure the funding they need through a series of grant contests and providing access to expert business coaching.

Kiva

Visa Foundation partnership to increase financial access for underserved small and micro businesses, wherein Visa employees help designate microloans to the participant businesses.

Practical Money Skills

Global free educational resource powered by Visa to empower individuals to take control of their finances.

I Can Manage My Money

Visa partnership with UNDP and Habitat in Turkey to offer training sessions on financial concepts and budget management to enable individuals to use financial tools and services.

Inclusive Fintech 50

Collaborative partnership that annually leverages a competitive process to identify 50 early-stage fintechs driving financial inclusion worldwide. The competition offers participants exposure to investors and others who can help them grow.

Accion Venture Lab

Visa double bottom line investment in venture capital fund supporting early-stage fintechs reaching underserved consumers and small and micro businesses.

Rappi

Visa strategic partnership with Rappi to accelerate digital commerce and financial inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Guatemala COVID Relief

Visa Direct technology enabled instant deposits into the accounts of the beneficiaries of the Bono Familia government emergency subsidies program in Guatemala.

Universal Postal Union (UPU)

Visa partnership with UPU to establish the Financial Inclusion Technical Assistance Facility initiative, a program to support national posts to digitize payments and advocate for inclusion.

VC Include

Visa Foundation partnership accelerating investment into diverse emerging fund managers in the United States.

Black Ambition

A racial equity and entrepreneurship initiative launched by producer and entrepreneur Pharrell Williams and partnered with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, with support from Visa Foundation.

Tipping Point Community

Visa Foundation partnership to provide pathways to economic opportunity via local, non-profit organizations working to educate, employ, house and support vulnerable communities in the Bay Area.

Bridge for Billions

Visa partnership with Bridge for Billions to power a mentorship program where Visa employees support social start-ups in creating a validated business plan in 3-4 months.

Visa Black Scholars and Jobs Program

Visa partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to offer selected college-bound Black and African American high school students in the U.S. yearly scholarship assistance.

Visa Foundation COVID Relief

Visa Foundation has provided $15M in emergency relief to support organizations on the frontlines responding to the global COVID-19 pandemic, including nearly $4 million to the Red Cross and $4.5 million to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Back to Business

Visa web-based tool to help find businesses that are open in the aftermath of a natural disaster by identifying companies that have successfully processed a Visa transaction.

Relief donations

Visa and Visa Foundation provide financial donations for disaster relief in times of crises. Visa offers double matching for employee donations to select charities responding on the ground.

Employees making a difference

Visa encourages and supports employees to make an impact in ways that inspire them, whether that is through volunteering, giving or empowering people and communities in need.

How we empower employees

Matching gifts up to $10,000 annually per employee
Double matching on Giving Tuesday and for select disaster relief donations
16 hours of Volunteer Time Off
Dollars for Doers: employees earn $10 per hour of volunteering to give back to charity
Small business mentorship and Kiva loan programs

For annual programmatic and progress updates please see the latest Environmental, Social and Governance report.

Visa Foundation

Social impact insights and research

Unlocking the Benefits of Digital Payments: Insights from Uzbekistan

In Uzbekistan, the government has led a push into digital payments as part of a national growth and development strategy. The initial transformation in the biggest cities happened rapidly, over a few years. This has created a meaningful opportunity to understand how Uzbek citizens have experienced the transition so far and what needs to be done now to extend the benefits of digital payments across the country.

Read the insights from Uzbekistan

Empowering Participation in Commerce: New Strategies for Digitization of Micro and Small Businesses

A review of literature on digital payments’ impact on micro and small businesses reveals how digitalization is changing this segment, and why understanding this transition is key to inform effective public and private strategies and investments to accelerate the success of the small business sector as a whole.

Read the digitization strategy report

Unlocking the Benefits of Digital Payments for Micro and Small Businesses: Insights from Mexico

Research commissioned by Visa in Mexico reveals that accepting digital payments can help small and micro business owners increase revenue, improve business management and expand their customer base.

Read the insights from Mexico report

Assessing the Role of Biometrics in Financial Inclusion

Biometrics technology can enhance the convenience and security of digital payments, and many observers have pointed to the potential benefits of using it to advance financial inclusion. This paper analyses how, and under what conditions, biometrics can facilitate financial and digital inclusion for lower income and unbanked populations and highlights the enabling policies and regulations.

Read the biometrics report

Digital Financial Services (DFS) Ecosystems: Underpinning the Potential for Livelihood Transformation in Urban Areas

The existence of an inclusive digital financial ecosystem can be a foundation for increased incomes and poverty alleviation by transforming livelihoods and providing new forms of work. This paper explores the background, drivers and policies underlying such ecosystems and highlights the ecosystems’ impact on lives and livelihoods.

Read the DFS ecosystems report