Latest news with #RajivGarodia
Finextra
15-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Visa and Universal Postal Union collaborate to help boost financial inclusion
The Universal Postal Union (UPU), a UN agency that serves as the primary forum for cooperation between postal sector players, and Visa, a global leader in digital payments, have announced a strategic collaboration to expand access to digital postal financial services within the UPU network. 0 The collaboration aims to promote financial inclusion and stimulate economic development by leveraging the UN agency's international postal network and Visa's payments network. As part of the collaboration, Visa and UPU announced three programs: • Global Postal Digital Inclusive Finance Program: This program aims to help advance financial inclusion and economic resilience by providing tailored support for post offices that are digitalizing postal financial services. It will cover regions including Africa, Latin America & the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Arab world. • Improving Postal Payment Interconnectivity: Enhance the UPU network's cross-border payment capabilities by integrating with Visa's global network. • Cybersecurity & Risk Advisory Program: This initiative will leverage Visa's cybersecurity and risk credentials to assess and help enhance cybersecurity strategies, the safety and reliability of financial services within the UPU's postal payment system. Key Areas of Collaboration: • Digitalizing Postal Financial Services: Enhancing digital services such as international remittances, bill payments, and inbound payments to help meet postal operators' needs at their current stage of digitalization. • Provision of Government Services through Postal Networks: Facilitating more inclusive access to government services and payments, including disbursements and tax collection, to support national financial inclusion strategies. • Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Digitalization and Financing: Supporting the economic inclusion of MSMEs, particularly women-owned businesses, through digital solutions like e-marketplaces and mobile-based loan disbursements. • Cybersecurity and Risk Management: Strengthening cybersecurity measures and risk mitigation tools to help protect the international postal network from potential cyber threats. The new collaboration builds on the success of the UPU Financial Inclusion Technical Assistance Facility (FITAF), an initiative supported by Visa and the Gates Foundation that helps postal operators in developing countries provide financial services to local communities. Rajiv Garodia, Head of Visa Government Solutions, said: "Visa is committed to using our global network and innovative technology to help empower governments and drive financial inclusion globally. The UPU is a perfect collaborator for us in this respect as it plays a significant role in providing financial services to 1.5 billion people worldwide'. Siva Somasundram, Director of Policy, Regulation, and Markets at the UPU, said: At the UPU, we strive to foster international collaborations to drive the improvement of financial services, digital transformation, financial inclusion, innovation, and knowledge sharing within our postal network. Our goal is to diversify digital postal financial products and solutions to ensure that every community - no matter how remote - has access to relevant, reliable, and efficient services. Promoting public-private partnerships, like the one with Visa, is a priority for the UPU in delivering sustainable and scalable digital solutions that meet the needs of underserved postal customers - helping them access digital payments, digital savings, credit, and inclusive insurance, while supporting national financial inclusion goals.'
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ESTHER International and Visa to collaborate on payments solutions for humanitarian aid
HOUSTON, February 05, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ESTHER International, the financial assistance platform for governments and NGOs, and Visa, a world leader in digital payments, have signed a strategic agreement to collaborate on new payment solutions to help simplify humanitarian aid delivery, tackling global challenges in delivering aid under increasingly difficult circumstances due to worsening natural disasters and ongoing conflict. Between 2018 and 2023, the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance has doubled from 199.1 million to 406.6 million (UN OCHA1) and severe food insecurity could affect over 956 million people by 2028 (World Bank2). Efficient and scalable solutions to disburse cash assistance are urgently needed. Many communities are underserved by traditional financial services and have limited access to fintech infrastructure. This can make it difficult to provide those communities with humanitarian aid assistance in the event of a crisis, such as a climate-related event or conflict. As part of their new collaboration, ESTHER International and Visa aim to co-develop solutions that enable NGOs to accomplish more on the ground, at speed, with data capture and management tools that allow efficiencies at the operational level. ESTHER International and Visa plan to then test these solutions in pilot programs over the next 2 years. In 2025, ESTHER International and Visa aim to launch the first pilot in collaboration with Maui Rapid Response, an emergency response NGO based in Hawaii, using the ESTHER platform to deliver financial aid via Visa cards to individuals and families whose lives have been devastated by wildfires. Carol Rossborough, CEO at ESTHER International, said: "Humanitarian aid agencies and NGOs continue to face extreme pressure due to increasing global conflicts and climate change. An aggregated global payments solution that provides the efficiencies NGOs need can be part of the answer, and Visa's global network, as well as its money movement and innovation capabilities, make them the ideal collaborator for us." Rajiv Garodia, Head of Visa Government Solutions, said: "As the world faces unprecedented challenges in delivering humanitarian aid, our collaboration with ESTHER International is a crucial step towards ensuring that financial assistance reaches the most vulnerable communities quickly and efficiently." For more information on the launch of this joint initiative contact info@ telephone (+44)7446832070. About ESTHER International ESTHER International is a leading FinTech organization dedicated to advancing humanitarian aid through innovative technology and partnerships. Our mission is to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of crisis aid delivery by providing easy to use, scalable, interoperable systems that support NGOs and local community networks. Learn more at ESTHER International. Global Humanitarian Overview 2023, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), 1st December 2022, The World Bank's World Food Security Outlook, World Bank, October 2023, View source version on Contacts info@ telephone (+44)7446832070 Sign in to access your portfolio
