Commitments announced at Clinton Global Initiative meeting
Efforts focus on combating poverty through microfinance, financial literacy
and development of new technologies
NEW YORK, May 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) today
launched its first corporate responsibility program at the Clinton Global
Initiative (CGI) mid-year meeting, where Visa was recognized as the first CGI
"commitment to action" of 2008.
The program, Visa's first as a public company, has two areas of emphasis:
-- Humanitarian Aid: Visa is committed to working with leading
humanitarian aid organizations that have the expertise and ability to
help individuals in vulnerable communities around the world, including
in cases involving disaster relief efforts.
-- Long-Term Poverty Alleviation: At the core of Visa's CSR commitment is
a focus on combating poverty by fostering greater economic
self-sufficiency among low-income individuals and communities. Visa is
combining its payments expertise, historic commitment to financial
literacy and focused philanthropic efforts to bring more people into
the formal banking system and support entrepreneurship and small
business development.
Joseph W. Saunders, Chairman and CEO, Visa Inc., said, "Visa and its
employees have a deeply rooted concern for the well-being and advancement of
all human beings. Although global poverty is a massive issue that Visa cannot
conquer alone, we believe that by focusing our philanthropy and expertise in
electronic payments toward expanding opportunity to those in need, we can make
a meaningful contribution to tackling this global challenge."
The corporate responsibility program launched by Visa today is in the
early stages of development. Visa is looking forward to building on this
foundation and working closely with its partners to make meaningful progress
on its commitment to combating poverty. Areas Visa intends to focus on as it
further develops its corporate responsibility efforts include:
-- Support for microfinance programs to help unleash entrepreneurial
talents that are critical to economic development in poorer countries;
-- Developing new technologies and payments infrastructure, such as mobile
payments, to help expand access to financial services; and
-- Financial literacy programs that help people better manage their
finances, as well as understand their financial responsibilities.
An integral part of this commitment is Visa's new partnership with Oxfam
America, an international humanitarian relief and development organization
that is a highly-respected leader in advancing humanitarian aid, economic
development, and poverty alleviation. Visa is making an initial three-year
funding commitment to support Oxfam's work on both humanitarian aid and
targeted programs devoted to combating poverty.
"Oxfam congratulates Visa on the launch of its new corporate
responsibility program. We are pleased to be one of Visa's partners, and to
work closely with a company that shares our commitment to address poverty and
improve the quality of life for people in some of the poorest communities in
the world," said Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America. "We look
forward to a successful and productive partnership."
In addition to working with Oxfam to address issues globally, Visa also
remains focused on helping smaller non-profit groups in developing countries
as well as those in the United States.
Saunders added, "We recognize that public ownership comes with a greater
responsibility to corporate citizenship. Being a corporate responsibility
leader is a critical part of the new Visa, and we are delighted to have this
chance to build a program from the ground up and 'go public' with our CSR
program at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York. We look forward
to a productive relationship with CGI, which shares our commitment to finding
innovative solutions to address poverty and other significant global
challenges."
About Visa: Visa operates the world's largest retail electronic payments
network providing processing services and payment product platforms. This
includes consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, which are
offered under the Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink and PLUS brands. Visa enjoys
unsurpassed acceptance around the world and Visa/PLUS is one of the world's
largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in more
than 170 countries. For more information, visit www.visa.com.
Press Contacts:
Paul Cohen
Visa
+1 (415) 932-2166
pcohen@visa.com
SOURCE Visa Inc.
05/02/2008
CONTACT: Paul Cohen of Visa, +1-415-932-2166, pcohen@visa.com
Web site: http://www.visa.com