Visa has partnered with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to improve access to inclusive digital government and payment systems across the world.

The payments giant said the partnership aims to enable the digitisation of payments and government systems to enable economic growth.

The organisations will work together over a five-year period to develop programmes to assist governments in creating and adopting platforms which connect constituents with local government services.

Initially, the focus of the project will be on Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Caucasus, with scope to expand further.

“Digital government systems can help enhance transparency and efficiency between communities and governments, fostering a more favourable environment for entrepreneurs and economic development,” said Chris Newkirk, global head of new flows – commercial & money movement solutions at Visa. “Through shared interests and goals, Visa and USAID will empower communities with digital and financial literacy and support access to digital systems that will help drive financial inclusion for everyone, everywhere.”

The new project builds on a previous partnership to push digitisation and financial inclusion around the world.

Visa and USAID are both working with Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation to develop Diia, a mobile application that has helped connect 19 million Ukrainians with more than 120 government services.

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