US digital challenger Zenus Bank has announced it is the first International Financial Entity to become a Principal Member of Visa.
The bank is set to launch later in 2020 and aims to build a platform that is supported by state-of-the-art technologies in the front-end and back-end. It also aims to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver intelligent digital user experiences.
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Mushegh Tovmasyan, Zenus Bank Chairman & Founder, said: “Our mission is to give people in emerging economies an alternative to local traditional banks by offering a transparent, digital banking experience on par with leading global banks.
“This great partnership with Visa – the world’s leader in digital payments will further enable us to become the competitive edge for our customers.”
Under the agreement, the soon-to-launch bank will issue Visa-branded debit cards. In addition, by leveraging Visa’s network, Zenus Bank hopes to bring a robust and innovative value proposition.
Luis Guerra, Country Manager at Visa, said: “Payments technology is continuously evolving the way consumers and merchants interact and banks must adapt quickly their infrastructure and business model to succeed.
“The collaboration with Zenus is one of the latest examples of Visa’s efforts to help clients enable individuals and small businesses with state-of-the-art digital payments capabilities in a world that is moving at a faster speed to adopt secure, frictionless and convenient consumption experiences.”
Helping fintechs scale-to-market
The new partnership is part of Visa’s commitment to help fintechs scale-to-market quickly.
Together, the two companies will focus on enhancing the new digital bank’s capabilities through solutions including, Visa Direct, Visa’s real-time payments platform and business-to-business payments solutions for small and medium businesses and global enterprises.
Earlier this week, Dubai-based ride hailing firm Careem partnered with Visa to accelerate digital payments.
The move integrates Visa credentials into the Careem Pay Wallet to address liquidity challenges. It will also help Careem drivers, known as Careem Captains, access earning in real time and send low-cost remittances.
