Global payments provider Fiserv has pledged $50m to support small, ethnically diverse businesses trying to navigate the pandemic.

The initiative, which is part of Fiserv’s Back2Business programme in the UK, enables businesses to apply for £10,000 grants. In addition, the payments provider will provide participants with expertise and technology solutions, such as its point-of-sale platform Clover.

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Neil Wilcox, head of corporate social responsibility at Fiserv, said: “We are expanding our Back2Business initiative to the U.K. to help small ethnically diverse businesses owners capitalise on the opportunity of reopening and returning to full operation.

“The last 18 months have been challenging for many small businesses, and we recognise great needs remain. We are ready to help this essential sector of the economy to resurface stronger and better equipped.”

Supporting ethnically diverse businesses 

Back2Business is part of the Fiserv Forward Together Plan to further diversity and inclusion. It initially launched in the US in 2020, and so far, has provided grants to over 850 businesses.

Businesses that successfully receive the grants can use them for any purpose they choose. For instance, they may choose to use the grants for technology investment, operational costs, premise re-design or marketing.

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To be eligible for a grant, businesses must be majority owned by a person from an ethnically diverse background and located in the UK. They must also have been in business prior to January 2020, have revenue of less than £1m annually, and have 15 or fewer employees.

The Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) will administer the grants.

John Gibbons, head of EMEA at Fiserv, said: “Small businesses are the backbone of our communities. We are bringing the Back2Business programme to the UK to help these ethnically diverse-owned businesses re-emerge stronger and stay competitive moving forward, and hope this will encourage other companies to look for opportunities to help how and where they can.”

Three UK businesses have already been selected to receive grants amounting to £10,000 each. These are deep tissue massage therapist Sarah Rayner, Nigerian, West African and Afro-Caribbean catering company Jemmy’s Catering, and healthy ready meals company The Gym Kitchen.