What We Do

What we do

Supporting individuals and businesses across Europe with the skills they need to empower ahead

Building financial skills

For more than two decades, Visa has been developing financial inclusion programmes to support communities. We understand the value of financial skills and its ability to create opportunities and lasting change. Whether it’s contextual and active learning, to interactive content, to deeper behavioural change, we’re helping people take steps towards the skills they need to thrive.

Money Management

At Visa, we believe that understanding how to spend, save and budget are essential skills that everyone should have access to. Our programmes help individuals around the globe make informed financial decisions by offering interactive tools and educational resources to help individuals and communities build stronger financial futures.

Practical Money Skills

Our award-winning Practical Money Skills programme helps individuals and communities to develop their money management skills - empowering people to improve their quality of life and unlocking opportunities.

Visit the Practical Money Skills website

Practical Business Skills

Micro and small businesses are the backbone of the global economy. Through the Practical Business Skills programme, we’re equipping entrepreneurs with free resources and tools to help them prosper.

Visit the Practical Business Skills website

Financial Skills

Learn to budget

While budgeting may sound complicated, it can be quite simple.
The first step is to work out your total expenses, which is the combined amount of your fixed and flexible expenses.
Fixed expenses stay the same from month to month - this could include rent or mortgage payments - while flexible expenses change from month to month - this could include big expenses or utilities.
Once you've worked out your expenses, you'll need to calculate your income, which could include income from your job or other resources including pensions, rental income and more.
Once you've subtracted your expenses from your income, you’ll have a general idea about how much money you’ll have left over to spend.

Visit the Practical Money Skills website

Keep safe on the move

When travelling, it's worth thinking about different ways you can protect yourself and your family from identity theft and fraud.
Tell your card issuer about your trip before leaving, so they don’t flag unfamiliar transactions when you’re using your card abroad - but don't tell too many others. We all like to share our holiday snaps with our friends, but if you post them on social media then you are also letting strangers and potential fraudsters know that you are away from home and may be at greater risk.
Keep a copy of all your card account numbers and the telephone numbers for reporting lost or stolen cards, and keep this information in a safe place, away from your wallet. Also remember to be careful when using internet cafes and public wi-fi.
Whatever your plans are, it’s important to be extra vigilant.

Visit the Practical Money Skills website

Benefit from fraud protection

Credit cards have strong fraud protections in place. When using a credit card, you may have protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act for when you use it to buy anything that costs between £100 and £30,000, even when you’re abroad. So if there’s a problem, you may be able to get your money back.
There are certain requirements that need to be fulfilled for a Section 75 claim to be available and there are some instances where Section 75 does not apply, such as when goods or services are paid for by a secondary cardholder or if you bought through an intermediary. This includes aggregators which sell on flight and hotel bookings.
What’s more, if you use a Visa debit or credit card, Visa’s Zero Liability Policy means you will unlikely be held responsible for unauthorised or fraudulent charges made with your card.

Visit the Practical Money Skills website

Entrepreneurship

We’re equipping entrepreneurs of today and tomorrow with the skills they need to thrive. We know that the playing field isn’t even, and we’re working to empower people from all backgrounds, particularly those from underserved groups, to access the resources they need to unlock opportunities and take their next steps in business.

She's Next

She's Next is providing resources, tools and funding opportunities to remove barriers for women entrepreneurs

Learn more about She's Next

Practical Business Skills

Visa is equipping small business owners with free educational resources to help them grow and manage their businesses

Visit the Practical Business Skills website

The Second Half

The Second Half is a career development programme supporting female footballers as they consider their careers beyond the football pitch

Learn more about The Second Half

Shaping the next generation of entrepreneurs

Younger generations such as Generation Alpha - those born from 2010 - show huge appetite towards entrepreneurship. But despite this ambition to be financially independent, many are not financially savvy. At Visa, we’re working to close the skills gap and enable the next generation of European entrepreneurs to thrive. We’re doing this alongside our partners through programmes that build young people’s financial knowledge and teach them the basics of entrepreneurship.

64 %

of young people across Europe want to run their own business or have a 'side hustle'¹

18 %

of Europe’s working population work for themselves rather than an employer²

2in5

young adults are financially illiterate³

(1) Research commissioned by Visa and conducted by Opinium with 3,000 children aged 8-14, between 16th August 2023 and 20th August 2023. The data was collected using an online survey in six markets across Europe, including the UK, Italy, Spain, Poland, France, Sweden. Each market has a sample size of 500 children.
(2) https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/skills-intelligence/self-employment?country=EU&year=2021#1
(3) https://mybnk.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Impact-Report-final.pdf

Are you money ready?

Financial literacy is a key building block for any budding entrepreneur, but research shows that young people are not as confident managing their money compared to older age groups.

MyBnk, one of our partners, has created an interactive quiz designed for young people to brush up on their money skills and for teachers to assess their students’ financial knowledge.

Take the quiz to find out your or your students’ money management style, build knowledge, and discover helpful resources based on results.

Go to the quiz

What is a start-up?

A start-up is a business or organisation in the early stages of operations. Start-ups are founded by one or more entrepreneurs who want to develop a product or service for customers or work toward solving a problem.

What is marketing?

Marketing is an important part of growing a business. Marketing includes any actions that a company takes to attract an audience to its products or services. This could include things like using social media, distributing flyers or leaflets, sending emails, or advertising online or in print.

What skills do entrepreneurs need?

Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or running a small business with employees, succeeding in business requires skills that go beyond money management. Resilience is key for entrepreneurs, who are likely to face challenges and setbacks along the way - and will often need to navigate these without a large team around them. Feeling confident and empowered is important too, especially for those from underserved groups who may not have the same level of access to support networks and resources.

Gamification

At Visa, we're demystifying money management and providing education through fun and engaging mediums, including video games and comic books.

Marvel

Visa and Marvel teamed up to create engaging financial education comic books that introduce fundamental money management concepts.

Discover the comics

FIFA Financial Football

Financial inclusion video games designed to take players’ money skills to the next level, while they lead their favourite FIFA country to victory.

Visit the FIFA Financial Football website

Empowering refugees across Europe

Europe’s forcibly displaced and stateless population has drastically increased in recent years. By leveraging our expertise, Visa is providing refugees with the financial tools they need and empowering them with skills, opportunities and support to rebuild their lives and create long-term financial resilience.

What we do

Building financial skills

Money Management

Practical Money Skills

Practical Business Skills

Financial Skills

Learn to budget

Entrepreneurship

She's Next

Practical Business Skills

The Second Half

Shaping the next generation of entrepreneurs

Are you money ready?

Gamification

Marvel

FIFA Financial Football

Empowering refugees across Europe

Our work in action