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.
