About Visa

Shalom! Visa launches Innovation Studio in Tel Aviv

By Shahar Friedman, Director of Venture and Startup

Israel is renowned for its innovation and thriving start-up scene; according to the World Economic Forum, it is the third most innovative country in the world, behind Switzerland and the United States1. It is no surprise then that Tel Aviv was chosen as the latest location to open a Visa Innovation Studio, joining Visa’s global network of innovation centers and studios.

At Visa, we believe collaboration is key to solving real world, consumer pain points or business challenges. That is why our network of innovation centers and studios is so important. With locations in Berlin, Dubai, London, Miami, New York City, San Francisco, San Paolo, Singapore, Stockholm and, now, Tel Aviv, Visa has built a space in which we can work with our clients and partners to collaborate and build customer-centric digital solutions.

Visa Innovation Studio Tel Aviv, located on Rothschild Boulevard, will serve as a co-working space for start-ups developing the next generation of payment solutions. The studio will focus on strategic partnerships with banks and non-banks, providing an opportunity to connect Israel’s unparalleled fintech ecosystem with Visa’s global reach of financial institutions and merchants. In 2018, the Innovation Studio Tel Aviv will focus on a number of key themes, including open banking services, retail, transportation and authentication. As part of our engagement model in the Innovatıon Studio, we announced that four Israeli companies have already been selected for collaboration: AU10TIX, HopOn, Idomoo and Personetics.

AU10TIX has been selected to be one of the four global companies that we have integrated into Visa ID Intelligence Program, a pioneering program to enable increased competitiveness, improved operational efficiency, deeper fraud protection and better regulatory compliance.

A HopOn demo - an innovative mobile payment and ticketing platform for public transportation - has been installed at Visa’s London Innovation Center, demonstrating the opportunities in transit with the latest digital technology.

Visa has also partnered with Idomoo and Arkia Israeli Airlines in a local marketing campaign that addressed passengers with personalized videos on the advantages of using a Visa card in tourism destinations.

In addition, a two-day business innovation visit in Israel - hosted by Visa - resulted in a collaboration between Banca Transilvania and Personetics. The Israeli start-up offers AI-powered cognitive banking solutions that enable financial institutions to deliver personalized customer experiences across all digital channels.

AU10TIX, HopOn, Idomoo and Personetics are four great examples of innovative businesses borne from Israel’s thriving start-up ecosystem. We are excited about the launch of the Visa Innovation Studio Tel Aviv and look forward to collaborating with more start-ups in the future. Any start-ups based in Israel interested in learning more should get in touch by visiting the Visa Innovation Studio Tel Aviv web page

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