Andhra to develop Vizag as Fintech hub, signs MoU with Visa

Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday unveiled its plans to develop Visakhapatnam as Fintech hub of the country and signed MoUs with Visa and Thomson Reuters.

Visa, the leading global payments network, will help transform Vishakhapatnam into India's first "less cash" city.

This initiative is designed to provide the foundation for the city to emerge as India's Fintech Valley, in keeping with the vision of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, the company said.

Naidu announced the Fintech Valley initiative at the Microsoft Future Decoded conference in Mumbai.

The state government also signed a MoU with Thomson Reuters for cooperation in Fintech initiatives in the state.

Naidu said that the government will collaborate with various organisations to create the perfect Fintech ecosystem in Visakhapatnam.

Six companies including Paytm are already working at Fintech Tower in the port city.

The Chief Minister tweeted that YES Bank is also keen on setting up a Fintech Park in new state capital Amaravati.

"Through this project, we hope to see a threefold to fivefold increase on the 6,400 merchants currently accepting digital payments, and to increase customer adoption of electronic payments by 75 percent Ato 100 percent," Naidu said about the MoU with Visa.

To accelerate its journey to less-cash and to becoming India's Fintech Valley, Visa will focus on driving payments digitisation, building talent pool and supporting Fintech start-ups.

Visa will work with key city agencies in Vishakhapatnam like the Greater Vishakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), Common Service Centres, Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, and key merchant segments like auto rickshaw drivers and the agricultural markets, to help digitize payments.

"We propose to undertake this initiative as a part of Visa's global financial inclusion efforts that aim to provide 500 million underserved with a payment account by 2020," said T.R. Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, Visa India and South Asia.

--IANS

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