Visa, a global leader in digital payments, on Tuesday announced the extension of its Visa Innovation Programme Europe to Malta.

This fintech pilot-centred collaboration platform is live in Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, and Spain, and Visa has been a partner in it since 2018 with early-stage venture capital fund Eleven Ventures and open innovation accelerators Crowdpolicy and Hackquarters. It is designed to help early-stage Fintech “scale up and supercharge” their value proposition, while engaging with Visa, its clients, and partners.

An open call is expected to launch in March 2023, where Fintech in Malta will be able to submit their applications to be part of the 2023 edition’s cohort. Awarded candidates will become part of the Visa Innovation Programme Europe, which during the following six months will “support their growth”, providing them with access to training resources, mentoring and investors. They will also be able to tap into a network of proof-of-concept partners such as banks, e-money institutions, merchants, and other high profile organisations, in order to test and validate their propositions and reach the commercialisation stage faster.

“Visa is constantly innovating to make new and future payment methods and channels better and more accessible to all,” Sevi Vassileva, Visa VP and General Manager for Malta, Cyprus, Malta and Israel, said.

“This is what guides our approach to collaborating with Fintech to create new ways to pay and be paid. We are excited to bring this programme to Malta with our partners, demonstrating our continued investment in Fintech talent in the markets where we operate the programme, and beyond,” she continued.

“I’m incredibly proud to see how much the Visa Innovation Programme has and continues to expand as an established regional programme across Europe and I’m looking forward to welcoming the Fintech in Malta interested in becoming part of it,” she concluded.

“Visa Innovation Programme Europe continues to pave the way for the development of partnerships between start-ups, Visa, and financial institutions, giving the chance in more Fintech companies with the launch in Malta to flourish in a dynamic ecosystem with exciting opportunities and potential for Fintech entrepreneurs,” Crowdpolicy Managing Director Michael Psalidas said.

Since its inception in 2018, the programme has opened hubs in Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, and Spain, evaluating over 900 applicants in 62 countries with 72 selected Fintechs. They generated 70 proofs of concept thanks to Visa’s network partner introductions. To date, the programme has delivered a total of 1,300 hours of mentoring and the participating Fintech have entered 84 rounds of investment, received over €350 million in funding. One of its first participants, Payhawk, became a unicorn last year.

Visa Regional Managing Director Southern Europe Bea Larregle said: “We are determined to support collaborative innovation, which is a key enabler to build more inclusive economies and to unlock economic growth.”

“After the great results achieved by the programme in Spain, Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria, I am glad to see it expanding further with Malta, so we can discover and empower more local Fintech talents that will shape the future of payments and commerce in Europe,” she added.