AIFC and Visa announce launch of the biggest programme - Visa Everywhere Initiative in association with AIFC
The partners of the program will be Alfa Bank, Beeline, Centras Insurance, Halyk Bank, Home Bank Credit, Wooppay, Forte Bank, KMF, KPMG in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, Zaman Bank, Kazpost, Al Hilal Bank, the AIFC's press release reads.
"Visa is a global leader in various segments of the payment market, therefore, combining the efforts of AIFC and Visa in our region is natural. Our joint efforts will ensure the development of the financial ecosystem in the region and will help the AIFC become the key Fintech node in Central Asia. Due to the wide partnership with Visa, we will be able to offer fintech companies in the region unique conditions and opportunities for starting and dynamic development of business. This applies to both major financial players and Fintech start-ups," says Kairat Kaliyev, Chief development officer of the AIFC.
"We have signed a memorandum of understanding with the AIFC in September 2017. This was our starting point for cooperation in the joint development of fintech ecosystems in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Today we are pleased to expand our partnership and launch the Visa Everywhere Initiative in partnership with the AIFC. This program is aimed at identifying and supporting Fintech solutions that are relevant to the market, which can help improve the experience of customers and partners. I am sure that combining the international experience of Visa and the local experience of the AIFC will lead to the development of the Fintech industry in Central Asia," says Vera Platonova, Senior Vice President and Director of the Visa regional division in the CIS and South-Eastern Europe.
The aim of the programme is developing innovative projects in the field of fintech, discovering energetic and motivated specialists, as well as assisting in the joint launch of new financial services.
New and successful entrepreneurs, corporate employees, programmers, mobile app developers, designers, interface designers, as well as anyone who has ideas for creating a promising product will be able to compete for the opportunity to cooperate with customers and partners, access to mentoring support from experts of partner companies of the programme.
Applications for participation in the Visa Everywhere Initiative in association with AIFC are accepted from March 13 to April 30, 2019. The final stage of the programme will be held as part of the Astana Finance Days forum in Astana on July 5, 2019. The key criteria for selecting winners will be the uniqueness of the solution in the given areas and customer experience, feasibility of the projects considering the existing opportunities, and scalability over a large part of the market.
For more information about the competition, as well as to apply for participation visit