Open Innovation in Central Europe with VISA

<p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ute-k%C3%B6nig-stemmler-55623414/">Ute Koenig-Stemmler</a>, Head of Business Development &amp; Sales Non-Traditional Financial Institutions, Central Europe at <a href="https://www.visaeurope.ch/de_CH">VISA</a>. </p><p>We cover the following topics:</p><ul> <li>Ute's Business Development Central Europe mandate</li> <li>VISA's activities in the region and in Switzerland in particular</li> <li>VISA's investment in the FinTech space (e.g. acquisition of <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190507006199/en/Visa-Acquires-Control-Earthport">Earthport</a>, a cross-border payments services provider or investment in <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/07/banking-platform-solarisbank-closes-e56-6m-series-b-from-bbva-visa-lakestar-and-others/">SolarisBank</a>, Banking-as-a-Platform start-up from Germany)</li> <li>VISA's outreach to the FinTech community through <a href="https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/everywhere-initiative/initiative-europe.html">VISA Everywhere initiative</a> and their cooperation with <a href="https://www.tomorrow.one/en-de/blog/tomorrow-x-visa-79be0a">Tomorrow</a>, a sustainability-focused bank and <a href="https://getpenta.com/en/larger-smes/">Penta</a>, credit cards for SMEs</li> <li>Views on partnerships with start-ups and VISA's focus on working with companies looking to scale-up, leveraging their network</li> <li>VISA in Switzerland cooperates with <a href="https://yapeal.ch/">Yapeal</a>, first independent Zurich start-up with the FinTech license</li> <li>The episode was recorded prior to pandemic lockdowns in Europe</li> </ul>What if money becomes fully electronic, so it would become nothing but electrons and photons moving around the world at the speed of light.<br>Dee Hock, founder of VISA