Social impact in the UAE with Visa

Social Impact: Building an equitable future

Advancing impact-centered partnerships and solutions to accelerate positive change so that our shared humanity, communities and planet thrive.

Our investments

Uplifting everyone, everywhere through knowledge and skill-building tools for equitable access to trusted, convenient ways to move money.

Partners in our global collaborative community

Daraz

Visa partnership with Daraz to add value to the Daraz University, an educational platform that equips SME merchant with the skills they need to run and grow their online businesses.

Neolli

Visa partnership with Neolli to support the digitization of SMBs like artisans in Morocco. Neolli is also a previous She’s Next Winner, that Visa has invested in to help grow and scale a women-led business.

Panelys

Visa partnership with Panelys to support cocoa and coffee farmers in of Côte d'Ivoire through financial education initiatives and Visa technology to help digitize these small farm holders.

International Trade Centre

Visa partnership with the International Trade Centre to support youth led and eCommerce small businesses in Africa through a series of training, workshops and mentorship programmes.

Dubai Holding

Visa partnership with Dubai Holding to help upskill and equip blue-collar workers with valuable financial knowledge through the Life Goals initiative, which conducts trainings in financial literacy to help workers achieve financial resilience for themselves and their families.

Global Money Week

GMW is an annual global awareness-raising campaign on the importance of ensuring that young people are financially aware, and acquire the financial knowledge, skills, and behaviours necessary to make sound financial decisions and achieve financial well-being. Visa plays a crucial role in promoting the importance of financial education for young people and had been participating in GMW since 2021.

Financial Sector Conduct Authority

Visa partnership with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority to support financial literacy amongst young people by hosting a national financial literacy competition that has so far impacted 100 000 learners across South Africa.

CEMEA use cases for SMBs

Neolli: Weaving Moroccan artisans into the digital economy

Zarina: A tale of digital empowerment in Kyrgyzstan's commerce

Field to cloud: Thrive agric's digitization of traditional farming in Nigeria

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.

Volunteer Time Off

Employees receive 16 hours of Volunteer Time Off.

Mentorship and loan programs

Our workforce helps with small business mentorship and Kiva loan programs.

Dollars for Doers

Employees earn $10 per hour of volunteering to give back to charity.

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

80 %

We had 80% of our employees participate in Visa programs to give back to their communities in 2022.*

* Data assessed during fiscal year 2022 (FY22), which runs from October 2021 to September 2022

Awards

Morocco

Visa's social impact initiatives were recognized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Morocco. Visa was awarded the Corporate Social Responsibility award, an award to businesses whose projects have a positive impact in the community. Highlights from the ceremony American Chamber of Commerce Award

Democratic Republic of Congo

In the DRC, Visa and the Vodacom Foundation partnered to support the social and economic empowerment of 500 women living with disabilities, by providing small business grants to launch kiosks/shops for recharge and daily usage items and enabling digital cashless payments. Visa DRC received a certificate of Merit from the Vodacom foundation and Ministry in charge of people living with disabilities

Oman

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth awarded Sidrah Oman with the prestigious Youth Excellence Award for 2023, in the category of Youth Activities. Visa is one of the funders of the Sidrah Youth Leadership Program which focuses on shaping ethical future leaders, cultivating positive mindsets, building strong relationships for effective leadership, financial confidence, business and digital literacy skills which has impacted over 1000 individuals to date.

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Visa Foundation seeks to support inclusive economies where everyone, everywhere can thrive.

About Visa Foundation

Social Impact: Building an equitable future