Visa, the world leader in digital payments, has selected digital payments start-up Tallykhata from Bangladesh for the 2022 cohort of its Visa Accelerator Programme in Asia Pacific.
Joining a select group of five elite startups from across the region, TallyKhata is a leading digital payments platform with wallet and credit capabilities for small and micro-businesses in Bangladesh. It will support financial inclusion by developing new ways for small businesses to access credit lines and working capital.
Over the next six months, the startups will work closely with Visa on creating defined commercial opportunities they can bring to Visa’s extensive network of bank, merchant, government and venture partners.
Through the programme, TallyKhata aims to partner with leading banks in Bangladesh to issue a Visa virtual card for small business working capital to micro-merchants. The Visa virtual card serves as a line of credit (short-term working capital loan) to be used by the MSME for direct payment to a list of approved suppliers / FMCG companies.
“We are super excited about the opportunity to be part of the Visa Accelerator Program 2022. We are developing innovative credit products for small businesses in collaboration with Visa and the local banks. Leveraging Visa rails and TallyKhata transaction data and credit scoring, we will enable quick and easy access of digital credit for the 11 million small businesses in Bangladesh.” Dr Shahadat Khan, Founder & CEO, TallyKhata
“The dynamic business landscape of Bangladesh calls for exciting and innovative solutions like TallyKhata. We are excited to collaborate with them and extend Visa’s experience in the payments industry to help them design solutions that meet the needs of businesses in Bangladesh. Together, we aim to help scale the economy and accelerate the digitization of the value chain.” said Soumya Basu, Country Manager – Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, Visa.
“Through the Accelerator Programme, Visa supports the startup community by giving them a leg up in one of their key challenges, which is expanding their footprint beyond their home market and into the region. Globally, nearly 30 per cent more fintech issued Visa credentials in the last year, and they nearly doubled their payments volume. By combining Visa’s capabilities and the reach of our global network with the ingenuity of the startups, together we can create new innovative experiences at scale and bring more individuals and businesses into the digital economy.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the world’s migration towards a digital-first future, the 2022 cohort will tackle some of the most pressing financial and technological issues that came to prominence in recent years. The four other companies located across the Asia Pacific region that will join TallyKhata in the programme include:
● Moneytree, a financial data aggregation platform based in Japan and Perfios, an India-based fintech that specialises in data aggregation and analytics, will leverage the growing open data environment in the Asia Pacific to drive enhanced decision making in areas such as risk and credit
● Cymonz, international payments and currency exchange platform, with a vision to simplify and expand money movement for banks, money service businesses and fintech.
● TripleA, a Singaporean startup that offers white-label cryptocurrency solutions, will work on new payment innovations involving the use of digital currencies and blockchain technology
Visa introduced the Accelerator Programme in Asia Pacific in December 2020. Designed for startups that have launched successful solutions in their home markets and are looking toward their next stage of growth, the programme is ideal for growth-stage fintech that are Series A and above, have a long-term commitment to Asia Pacific growth and existing operations in the region.