Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Visa has announced the launch of the Visa Everywhere Initiative 2021, a global innovation program and competition of ideas for fintech companies. This year, the focus of the program is on expanding financial inclusion and payment acceptance. Visa offers one-stop signup and information on upcoming opportunities and competitions on a global site.

Fintech companies from all over the world will be able to present their ideas to a jury of leading experts in the payment industry. In the first phase, all candidates from Uzbekistan are invited to enter the Central Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) competition to compete for a total prize pool of US$25,000. Regional winners will have the opportunity to participate in a US$100,000 worldwide competition and tell the story of their business.

In the countries of Central Asia, the Visa Everywhere Initiative program was first held in 2019, identifying the first winners - talented entrepreneurs from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan with ideas in the field of payments, which are already being implemented today. For example, MayaSoft, a startup from Uzbekistan, last year announced the start of development of the first contactless payment solution in Uzbekistan based on Visa Tap to Phone technology.

“Supporting companies that create solutions that ensure smooth cash flow is a top priority for Visa. We believe fintech is the driving force behind innovation at the heart of our business, and we encourage everyone to participate in the Visa Everywhere Initiative. I look forward to seeing many brilliant ideas from Uzbekistan and the CIS and Southeast Europe this year,” said Vera Platonova, Senior Vice President and Regional Director for Visa CIS and Southeast Europe.

Entrants must submit their entries in English for the Central Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) competition by 7 May; the final of the regional competition is scheduled for 8 June; the final of the world competition - on 14 September 2021.

Visa and TechCrunch will host live streams and virtual events in North America, Latin America and the Central Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

The Visa Everywhere Initiative is a global open innovation program that supports startups and fintech companies to drive innovation and business ventures that address today's payment and retail challenges, and further improve products and provide future-proof solutions to Visa's vast network of partners. ...

For the first time, the Visa Everywhere Initiative was launched in 2015 in the USA and during this time more than 7000 startups took part in the program. To date, the winning startups have raised more than US$2.5 billion in investment, and the program has been launched on six continents and covered over 100 countries.