Empowering People

Small Loans Deliver Big Results

For the 4 billion people worldwide who survive on $4 or less a day, economic opportunities are often in short supply. Experience has shown that there are millions of would-be entrepreneurs in the world’s poorest regions, but the capital needed to fund even the smallest business can be scarce. Successful, self-sustaining businesses can be built on loans of as little as $50. They can provide the momentum that lifts individuals, their families and their communities out of poverty.

Visa and its partner banks, in conjunction with specialist institutions, are investing in microfinance and extending the reach of electronic payments to entrepreneurs in Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, Ghana and other countries. For people in these countries, a Visa card can provide secure access to loans, can reduce the risk of theft and is the first step on the road to formal financial services.

FINCA Nicaragua, a microfinance pioneer, in partnership with Bancentro, now offers its clients a Visa debit card as a convenient way to access their loans. Clients can withdraw cash against their loans through ATMs or Bancentro tellers, or buy goods or services whenever they need them.

Sorayda Castellón, from Managua, Nicaragua, began selling tortillas with her first Village Bank loan of $150 from FINCA. Today, she operates a small pastry café in her home and is able to send her children to school. She receives her loans on a Visa card, which she says provides more security and allows her to manage her loan more efficiently.

Ecommerce Enabled By Electronic Payments

Twenty years ago, few people could have imagined a world where a significant portion of all global airline tickets, hotel rooms and even books would be bought and sold at either end of a personal computer. The ecommerce phenomenon has spawned a parallel economy worth billions of dollars. It has given rise to a new retail channel where more than $335 billion1 is exchanged globally a year.

The advantage of ecommerce is that it extends access to goods and services to more people in more places. For example, a study found that ecommerce has helped people living in remote areas and people with physical disabilities by providing them with convenient access to goods and services that were previously difficult to attain.

Behind the ecommerce phenomenon are electronic payments. About 85 percent of all ecommerce purchases in the U.S. are conducted on a major global card payment network such as Visa.2 The 16-digit code on the front of Visa cards is a key that enables access to global commerce either in person or remotely. Visa has embraced ecommerce as an important new way to exchange goods and services and has developed standards and services that support secure ecommerce globally.

Helping Dreams Come True For Paralympic Athletes

Every exceptional athlete is driven by a burning desire to compete and win. For many, though, the cost of achieving their dreams means financial sacrifices that are too hard to bear. Visa believes that exceptional people deserve to be recognized and supported. Cheri Blauwet is one such person. Born and raised on a farm near the town of Larchwood, Iowa, she sustained a spinal cord injury in a farming accident. Undeterred, Cheri became a world-class wheelchair track and road-racing athlete.

She brought home four medals from Sydney and three medals from Athens, including a Gold in the 800 meters. She has become one of the most decorated Paralympic athletes in U.S. history. Cheri is also a champion on the road. She has won the Boston, New York City and Los Angeles marathons several times.

Visa is supporting Cheri and other physically disabled athletes in 11 countries with financial support, life skills training and valuable marketing exposure in pursuit of their Paralympic goals. In 2002, Visa became the first Olympic sponsor to become a worldwide Paralympic sponsor, and Visa was the first global sponsor to extend its sponsorship of the Olympic and Paralympic Games through 2012.

Visa believes that by supporting the Paralympic Games, we are reaching out to the approximately 500 million people in the world with physical disabilities and their families with messages of empowerment and inclusion – values important to Visa.