Philippines – Visa, a global payment solutions provider, is dedicated to increasing digital and financial inclusion in Southeast Asia by providing women and youth with digital and financial skills. This effort strives to promote long-term growth and prosperity. 

Southeast Asia’s young population, which makes up approximately a third of the region, as well as its SMEs and MSMEs, which account for 99% of all firms, are critical to economic growth. Visa is contributing to this success by increasing digital and financial literacy among women SME owners and young people.

In 2023, Visa will have digitally empowered 10 million SMEs in Asia-Pacific. The Visa Foundation has invested more than US$47m in the region, supporting two million women-led SMEs and sustaining 500,000 jobs. It just invested US$100m to APEC economies over a 5-year period.

According to an OECD assessment, women, people from specific ethnic minority groups, and rural regions have obstacles when it comes to fully embracing digital possibilities. These groups frequently face institutional and cultural barriers to growth, in addition to a predilection for unofficial funding. 

Stephen Karpin, regional president, Asia-Pacific, Visa, said, “In the Philippines, women and young people form a crucial engine propelling local economic growth. Visa utilises our resources and vast network to give back to the communities we operate in, particularly in promoting digital and financial inclusion. We believe in the transformative power of providing individuals and communities with global access to digital financial tools. As a key partner in Southeast Asia’s financial ecosystem, Visa is committed to reaching the most underserved communities, ensuring they too can reap the benefits of the digital economy.” 

Meanwhile, Kelly Tullier, vice chair, chief people and corporate affairs officer, Visa, added, “At Visa, we are dedicated to empowering women, particularly those running small businesses, to set them up for success. My trip to Vietnam reinforced how contributions within local communities are most impactful when done in concert with leaders on the ground. We met Visa Foundation partner, WISE Vietnam (Women’s Initiative for Startups and Entrepreneurship), which has supported 100,000 women entrepreneurs in Vietnam with access to digital tools to grow their businesses. 

“Meanwhile, Visa’s partnership with The Asia Foundation enables us to work with government agencies and microfinance institutions to support local businesses and help the digital economy thrive. By supporting each other, we lay the groundwork for equitable futures for all,” Tullier added. 

Visa and the Visa Foundation form strategic partnerships to promote digitisation and financial inclusion in Southeast Asian communities. 

In line with Visa’s financial literacy initiative in the Philippines, which began in 2017, has trained over 36,000 students and teachers in 64 schools spread across 21 cities. Visa collaborates with Tanghalang Pilipino, the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ resident theatre troupe, and Teach for the Philippines (TFP), a non-profit organisation supported by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. 

The program includes a Tagalog skit that was performed in classrooms and eventually developed into two online series about financial literacy. In order to promote student development programs and leadership development projects that place transformative teachers and changemakers in schools and education governance organisations, TFP recently received a grant from the Visa Foundation. 

Meanwhile, in Indonesia, Visa provided women-led Indonesian SMBs with the tools they needed to drive financial and digital inclusion. Since its launch in 2017, the “Ibu Berbagi Bijak” (Women Sharing Wisdom) financial literacy initiative has benefited over 1,400 women, including more than 1,000 women-led MSMEs in Central Java, Yogyakarta, Bali, and West Java, through training, mentorship, and business matching. This project received backing from regional governments, Bank Indonesia, the Financial Services Authority, and key ministries such as the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy and the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises. 

Additionally, the Visa Foundation’s partnership with UN Women and the Swiss Association for Entrepreneurs in Emerging Markets produced a program that provides business coaching, networking opportunities, and funding to women-led care firms. Following program completion, the first cohort touched over 6,500 employees and independent caregivers in addition to over 27,000 care beneficiaries. 

In Vietnam, Visa’s ‘Accelerate My Business’ program, developed in collaboration with The Asia Foundation and the Center for Women and Development, assists ethnic minorities, youths, and female Vietnamese company owners. This initiative delivers basic financial, commercial, and digital expertise to micro and SME owners in disadvantaged communities, with the goal of empowering 25,000 female company entrepreneurs over the next three years.

Additionally, Visa provides help to households and ethnic minority communities under a three-year Memorandum of Understanding signed with the State Bank of Vietnam in 2023, in collaboration with the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs. Improving financial and business literacy in Vietnam is the goal of the yearly Financial Literacy Program, which was founded in 2012 in collaboration with the Vietnam Students’ Association Central Committee. 

Furthermore, in Cambodia, Visa works with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Cambodia (MoWA) and the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) to empower women through financial literacy and entrepreneurship programs. Since 2020, Visa, MoWA, and NBC have collaborated on a four-year initiative called “Promoting Financial Literacy for Women and Women Entrepreneurs,” which has benefited over 10,000 female entrepreneurs and students. 

Visa is committed to coordinating its social impact initiatives with the objectives of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), in light of NBC’s progressive pledge in its National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2019–2025 to cut the percentage of women who are financially excluded by half, from 27% to 13%. 

Over 1,200 women entrepreneurs in the Philippines and Cambodia have benefited from The Visa Foundation’s cooperation with The Asia Foundation. Over 800 women entrepreneurs in 12 provinces in Cambodia were given access to cash, financial education, business training, and online markets through the project’s use of pre-existing e-commerce platforms. 

The online world is here to stay and our time online will continue to grow. From shopping for necessities to staying connected with loved ones, how we shop, communicate, learn and make decisions has been irreversibly changed by the internet. Bain & Co found that since the pandemic began, Southeast Asia has added 60 million new digital consumers, of which 20 million joined in the first half of 2021. 

With the increase in digital consumption, we are seeing an increase in digital accessibility issues. In the Asia Pacific, over 650 million people live with a disability and this number is likely to increase as a result of the region’s ageing population. This means that one in six people in the region has some type of impairment that affects their ability to consume digital content. 

Addressing the gap 

It is expected that an increasing number of people with disabilities will require more accessible environments and services to remain mobile and engaged in society. 

However, digital inclusion remains under-addressed. Much of the internet remains inaccessible, despite existing policies to make websites more accessible. A report by Contentsquare shares some troubling numbers – 70% of digital content is not accessible, two-thirds of e-commerce sites are not accessible, and 70% of public services are not accessible.

Without ensuring digital accessibility for all, we are limiting a large group of people from accessing even the most basic services and information on the internet. There is a need to enhance the spotlight on digital accessibility, and brands catering to the audience of this highly diverse region must take action now to offer inclusive online experiences to secure a digital future for all. 

Digital accessibility is good for business

The argument for digital accessibility extends way beyond the moral obligation of building websites for all; it has huge financial and commercial implications too. Accessibility is not only good for ensuring equal access to everyone on an ethical level, but it’s also good for business. 

As the numbers tell us, the potential audience is huge and having the website inaccessible to this group is a missed opportunity. 

Ben Pintos-Oliver, general manager of digital systems at Telstra, spoke about this at a recent industry event for CX by Contentsquare. 

Ben shared that within Telstra, Australia’s largest mobile network, 50% of their base is over 55 years old.

“We know there’s a large portion of that population (around 50%) that [may have] a disability. We also know that we have an ageing population in Australia and that a 20% increase in over 65s will happen by 2030,” Ben said. 

Accessibility is not just important for disabled people – it benefits a wider audience, from people using smartphones to Asia’s ageing population to those situated in areas with low Internet connectivity. Human-centred and accessible design naturally comes with fewer points of friction and frustration.

A brand that demonstrates a commitment to accessibility for all can enjoy a strengthened brand presence and an increase in positive sentiment and word-of-mouth recommendations. And with those come significant improvements in customer experience and loyalty.

Make digital inclusion a key organisation-wide priority

Adoption of accessibility across the organisation is critical to its success, starting from leadership support. Accessibility as a mandate can’t be limited to developers and UX teams.

According to Telstra’s Ben, accessibility uptake is a joint effort and needs to cut across different functions across the organisation to be truly successful.

“From HR to corporate relations, to your digital team; more voices create more noise so make sure you get people from across the company on board as soon as you can. Seeking out people company-wide who support your initiative will help ensure a smoother buy-in from C-level too,” shared Ben.

The accessibility agenda needs to be woven into as many elements of the business as possible. For Ben, it is important for the team to align accessibility with ethical, brand and product agendas that are already on people’s roadmaps. 

“There needs to be a collective and conscious effort to support promoting accessibility for everyone, from your company values to your commitment to doing business responsibly,” said Ben.

Building a more inclusive web together: digital a11y by design

Building a more inclusive web to make a real difference in the lives of billions is a mammoth undertaking, and the more brands who commit to accessibility, the better. 

Brands need to ensure accessibility is embedded into their digital experience from the start, and not bolted on as an afterthought. Building a great website first and then reversing to make it accessible afterwards is a sure-fire recipe for a poor experience for your users. 

Brands like Telstra who prioritise accessibility from the very start will begin to cultivate an organisation-wide accessible-first mindset and contribute towards a better, kinder, and more inclusive digital environment.

This article is written by Albert Nel, senior vice president for Asia Pacific & Japan at Contentsquare.