Visa expands its bank-tech matchmaking program to the U.S.

Visa recently expanded its Visa Fintech Partner Connect program. The program helps financial institutions quickly connect with a vetted and curated set of technology providers. Initially launched in Europe, the program is now available in the U.S. and in certain markets across Asia Pacific, Central Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a press release. Visa clients can collaborate with program partners through the Visa Partner website. The partnerships include benefits such as reduced fees and pricing discounts.

Terry Angelos, global head of fintech at Visa, said that global fintech investment was at about $105 billion across 2,861 deals in 2020 — more than the combined technology budgets of every bank in the U.S., including the largest banks. While banks like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup have tech budgets close to $10 billion, the 100th largest bank probably has a tech investment that’s ‘a fraction of a fraction’ of these billion-dollar budgets. 

“As a result, there’s just a lot of innovation that is being funded by venture dollars and [it’s] resulting in a lot of cool companies,” says Angelos. “And we’re trying to bring that innovation to our clients.”

Angelos says the program offers a carefully curated directory of technology providers for banks with big budgets that are looking for partners to develop their solutions and for smaller clients, who neither have the budget nor the visibility into the tech ecosystem.

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