NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Multinational giants Thomson Reuters and Visa will launch their operations in the south Indian city of Vishakhapatnam next month, as the city gains prominence as a leading financial technology hub in the country. Global data and technology provider Thomson Reuters will join the world’s leading payments network Visa in launching operations in Vishakhapatnam, a coastal Indian city in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

Vishakhapatnam, also known as Vizag, has taken notable steps toward fostering Fintech development by welcoming industry firms to gain an operating presence in the city. According to a report in Indian newspaper The Hindu, the state government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the two companies, in a concentrated effort to establish the city as a Fintech hub in the country.

The agreement will see Thomson Reuters use infrastructure and university resources provided by the state government to build Fintech initiatives. Visa will push toward financial inclusion of the underbanked while increasing digital adoption amid developing curriculum in education for financial literacy. Perhaps notably, Visa will lend its expertise to introduce Quick Response (QR) code and Near-Field Communications (NFC) technologies for digital payments in government and business sectors in the state.