Visa has issued a challenge to startups, inviting them to pitch their ideas for ways in which the card giant can market its products and services.
Launching ahead of this year's SXSW conference, the Everywhere Initiative aims to harness the startup community to help Visa find new ways to reach consumers. Visa is working with innovation platform KITE and media company SoulPancake on the project, setting out three specific challenges: driving digital commerce, inspiring millennials, and pushing loyalty rewards.
Startups can start submitting their ideas from 14 March, with finalists invited to present their pitches to Visa's marketing and communications teams before up to four winners are picked, each receiving $50,000 and given 30 days to work with the card scheme to get a pilot up and running.
Shiv Singh, SVP, global head, digital and marketing transformation, Visa, says: "The time is right for Visa to work with the “grown-up” startups of today. We’ve reached a new phase in how brands interact with the startup community, in which true partnerships generate measurable results. We’re directly connecting with the marketing and advertising startup communities to solve for meaningful business objectives."