Visa Revamps its Government Solutions to Unlock the Power of Digital money in the Public Sector
Miami, Fl – May 30, 2024 – Governments are increasingly turning into digital – digitizing practically all services – but there is still a vast opportunity to further digitize government payments, which are critical to drive financial inclusion and to keep pace with today’s interconnected global economy and consumers’ new digital-driven behaviors.
To better help governments unlock the transformational power of digital money, Visa today announced the launch of its newly shaped Visa Government Solutions (VGS) division in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), a strategic move aimed at supporting governments across the region in attaining greater efficiencies, transparency and expanded access and reach through a range of innovative and secure digital payment solutions.
The effort involves the creation of new positions globally, including the appointment of Juan Carlos Cogorno as the new head of Visa Government Solutions for Visa Latin America and the Caribbean. In this new role, Juan Carlos is responsible for leading all aspects of Visa’s VGS strategy in LAC, including the expansion of Visa’s entire portfolio of government solutions for the public sector locally.
"As the world’s shift to digital continues to surge, digitizing public sector payments is no longer optional as they play a vital role in almost every interaction of the public sector with citizens and businesses,” said Juan Carlos Cogorno, head of Visa Government Solutions for Visa Latin America and the Caribbean. “At Visa, we are excited to extend the power of our network and innovative solutions to help governments continue to move into the future of money movement so they can accelerate their objectives of modernizing their operations, serving their citizens in a more agile way, fostering small businesses’ grow and unlocking greater prosperity for all.”
Visa is strengthening its global payment capabilities to serve local government needs. Most important Visa Government Solutions (VGS) include:
- Making public disbursement programs (such as emergency relief, fiscal stimuli, or social assistance) fast, more inclusive and efficient with virtual or/ and physical prepaid cards.
- Enhancing public finance effectiveness by streamlining and automating public procurement, fleet and internal expenses with digital payments including Visa Government Purchase Card or Travel Card, helping increase transparency, reducing costs and enhancing security and compliance.
- Simplifying government revenue collection using digital payments and human-centered design to improve how people and businesses pay for and interact with government services such as taxes, public services, transit systems, and others.
- Implementing a unified and integrated digital payment infrastructure and methods across public sector services and agencies, such as our efforts around urban mobility projects and acceptance initiatives
- Providing payment data insights to help inform and shape public policies (and optimize programs and spending) on travel and tourism, economic trends, and urban planning among others.
Visa Ready for Government Disbursements
As part of Visa’s new efforts in this space, the company is launching its Visa Ready for Government Disbursements program that assesses issuer processors’ capabilities against government requirements and enables Visa to match governments to trusted providers for their specific program needs. For disbursements programs, governments must make special considerations to protect and accommodate the beneficiaries in socially and economically vulnerable situations, and working with the right delivery partner is crucial. Visa Ready enables governments to find specialist partners to deliver against their requirements, that they can trust and know meet their needs.
After launching in Europe in early 2023, the initiative has expanded globally and now has 23 partners, including 7 in Latin America and Caribbean.
Transforming governments’ impact locally
Digital payments are giving governments and the entire payments ecosystem a host of significant opportunities to deliver lasting value and growth.
For example, in Guatemala, the “Bono Familia” program has provided financial assistance to almost 2.7 million vulnerable families through access to a virtual bank account and the inclusion of previously unbanked population. In Argentina, through a partnership with Banco Provincia, VGS enabled fleet management solutions for multiple provinces that provide governments a secure, efficient, and convenient way to manage their fleet's expenses.
At the beginning of the year in Brazil, Planalto announced the Pé de Meia program, a financial-educational incentive aimed to combat high school dropout rates in families that receive the government family allowance. The program is expected to serve around 2.5 million students per year and the funds are deposited in savings accounts and accessed via CAIXA Tem, with Visa credentials.
Finally, enabling digital payments in public transit is key to driving digital transformation in cities across our region. It can help drive digital inclusion of the masses, and provide ease, convenience, and security to many in their everyday life. Today, there are more than 40 transit projects across 24 cities in Latin America and the Caribbean, where riders can benefit from a simple tap to ride to pay for their transit fares. Visa’s work with the Resilient Cities Network has also kickstarted the delivery of more agile, efficient, and accessible digital payments in the Public Transport System of Jalisco in Mexico.
While Visa has been working with governments for decades, the newly formed Visa Government Solutions division brings together for the first time dedicated, specialized sales and solutions teams aimed exclusively at helping governments and cities modernize and capitalize on the prospects arising from this increasingly digital ecosystem.