Visa Announces Everywhere Initiative Launching In Europe

As MWC is spinning up, Visa has dropped the newest of its new Everywhere Initiative.

The program is created to encourage the development of the “next big thing” in payments and is now ready to expand into Europe. Entrants will get a chance to compete for €50,000 (~$52K) to support a development program with Visa or with one of Visa’s clients. The initiative also gives entrants a change to access Visa APIs, executive mentors and technologists.

Everywhere Initiatives are already online in North America, Latin America and Asia.

“In a highly dynamic industry, Visa’s Everywhere Initiative allows us to explore a host of ideas that solve business challenges, influence our product roadmaps, support our customers, and shape our culture of innovation,” said Shiv Singh, senior vice president of innovation and strategic partnerships, Visa Inc. “Every time we expand this program into a new region, we aim to attract talented entrepreneurs with fantastic ideas to the payments space, and we hope to see similar great outcomes in the European market in the months ahead.”

The European program will officially get rolling in March 2017 when Visa will invite eligible participants in Europe to submit their business solutions. Those solutions can track to one of three challenges.

Local Community Challenge: How can digital payment technologies help create products that connect people and enrich local communities?

Regional Intercity Challenge: How can mobile technologies and connected devices transform the experience of intercity travel?

International Travel Challenge: How can new products and services, based on Visa APIs, deliver a more seamless international travel experience?

To kick off this first European Everywhere Initiative, Visa is hosting a live competition at Mobile World Congress on February 27, with five emerging technology companies competing for a €25,000 cash prize.