The IT Nerd

Visa Canada announced that effective today, Dan Iwachiw will assume the role of Vice President, Head of Canada Products. An industry veteran with 20+ years in the financial services sector, Iwachiw will oversee the growth, adoption and evolution of Visa Canada products and solutions spanning consumer products, digital, risk, installments, and loyalty. 

Based in Toronto, Iwachiw will report directly to Stacey Madge, President and Country Manager of Visa Canada, as well as Dan Sanford, Head of Regional Product Solutions for North America. 

Dan brings in-depth knowledge of the payments industry to the role.  Over the course of his 11-year tenure with Visa, he has held various roles across Consulting & Analytics, Strategy & Operations, Business Development and Financial Partnerships. He also serves as executive chair for the Visa Canada Employee Engagement committee. Prior to his journey at Visa, Iwachiw spent 11 years at American Express Canada.

As an Exclusive Payment Services Partner of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, for the first-time Visa is extending its Visa Player of the Match athlete award to support women-owned small businesses with $500,000 in total grant funding across the 64 matches and potentially 32 qualifying countries. 

Visa Canada announced today that it has selected the Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business (CCAB) as the recipient of its Visa Player of the Match small business grant program. 

When a member of Canada’s National Women’s Team is awarded the Visa Player of the Match trophy throughout the tournament, funds will be granted to CCAB to support Indigenous women entrepreneurs. To kickstart the initiative, Visa Canada will provide an initial contribution of $25K CAD to support Indigenous women-owned businesses.

How it Works

The Visa Player of the Match trophy is awarded at each of the 64 matches to the player whom fans vote to be the most outstanding of the match. At FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, audiences watching at home can celebrate the women on the pitch and for the first time, help elevate women in business at the same time. Building up to the final match, Visa will award 64 grants to the identified grant recipient from the same country as the national team represented by the winning footballer.

The funding for Visa Player of the Match ranges in value from $5,000 for the 48 first round matches up to $50,000 for the final. Through the duration of the tournament, this program will see Visa invest a total of $500,000 in grant funding to support women-owned small businesses, globally. 

Supporting Women in Sports and Business

Initiatives like the Visa Player of the Match small business grants and the Visa Canada Small Business Hub, which has resources and solutions to support small businesses, are part of the Visa commitment to supporting small businesses.

In sport, Visa is committed to empowering women across its organization and through its brand support. For more than 15 years, Visa’s investment in women’s football has advocated for equity, inclusion, and creating meaningful connections with athletes, fans, and communities around the world.

Visa is the first worldwide FIFA Women’s Football Partner, the first standalone sponsor of UEFA Women’s Football, and sponsor of national teams including Canada Soccer, the U.S. Soccer Federation and Mexico Soccer Federation.

Visa also supports 34 women football players through its Team Visa program. This new group of Team Visa athletes – from 27 markets – represents the largest number of women footballers in Team Visa’s history and includes Canadian team captain Christine Sinclair, as well as Ashley Lawrence. The program extends Visa’s commitment to connecting the world through sport and championing women athletes at a time when women’s football continues to reach new heights.

To learn more about Visa’s support of athletes and plans surrounding FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ visit here.  

Visa Canada today announced 10 recipients of its She’s Next Grant Program. Reflecting a wide range of consumer products and services, the recipients are innovating, creating new jobs, and driving economic growth. Through this initiative, recipients each receive a $10,000 CAD grant and access to an accelerated mentorship program through York University. 

According to Visa Canada’s latest Small Business Pulse report, funding is particularly important for women-owned businesses with 40% of women-owned SMBs citing they have sought or anticipate seeking new financing in 2023 and 42% concerned with the lack of available financing options.

Through its She’s Next Grant Program, to date Visa has awarded 50 grants to women-owned small businesses, totalling $500,000 CAD and countless hours of coaching to women founders across Canada. Today’s recipients include: 

Barumba Play, Thornhill, ON: Barumba Play supports imaginative fun through its signature 11-piece, life-sized play couch. Barumba Play exists to better the toy industry while making life easier for families through the development of high-quality, open-ended toys that are designed with kids and parents in mind. 

Goldminds Class, Mississauga, ON: Goldminds Class provides research-backed, engaging classes designed to teach kids how to understand, accept and process their emotions while providing calming strategies to manage them now, so that they are set up for success later. 

Little Yogis Academy, Toronto, ON: Little Yogis is a mobile yoga and mindfulness program for kids in Canada age 2.5 to 13 years with the goal of improving physical, mental, and emotional health through our curriculum. It partners with schools, childcare centres, non-profit, and for-profit organizations to improve the health and wellness of our communities. 

Luna Nectar, Vancouver, BC: Nectar is a line of sustainable, waterless hair density and haircare products that are kicking the taboo of women’s hair loss. Luna Nector uses naturally occurring actives that make up most of each formula. No unnecessary fillers or false fragrances. Every drop is as good as nectar for your hair and skin. 

Mindful Monk, Langley, BC: Mindful Monk, a chocolate company geared for diabetes, was created in 2020 to help people make better nutrition choices and lead healthier, happier, and longer lives. 

Sootsoap Supply Co. Ltd., Coburg, ON: Originally developed for firefighters’ decontamination, SOOTSOAP is an all-natural, industrial strength line of personal care products formulated with the power of white charcoal to detoxify skin and hair and combat odours onsite, at home and on-the-go.  

Tacit, Toronto, ON: Tacit is an online art gallery and consultancy dedicated to amplifying female creatives in a way that is approachable to the emerging art collector. Its goal is to address the disparity between women and men as art by women accounts for a mere 2% of the art sold. 

The Dough Parlour, Oakville, ON: Dough Parlour manufactures sweet fruity-scented play dough made from 100% non-toxic, natural food-grade materials. It is the premium, eco-friendly alternative to store bought play dough and caters to eco- and health-conscious parents and families. 

VG Gourmet Vegetarian Foods Inc. St. Laurent, QC: VG Gourmet’s mission is to make better, healthier and more gourmet food products. Products contain only ingredients you can pronounce because you deserve to know what you’re eating. It’s not just plant-based, it’s just plants. 

Wolfe Co. Apparel and Goods, Huntsville, ON: Proudly made in Canada, Wolfe Co. casual clothing is rooted in its uncompromising commitment to quality domestic product and now has customers across the country and abroad. 

The Visa She’s Next Grant Program and initiatives like the Visa Canada Small Business Hub, which has resources and solutions to support small businesses in driving efficiency, fraud mitigation, and sales through the expansion of e-commerce, digital payments, marketing, and more, are part of the Visa commitment to supporting Canadian businesses.  

To learn more about the program and recipients, visit: Visa.ca/grantprogram. 

On World Password Day, it’s timely to acknowledge the computer password is more than 50 years old. Despite some advancements since then, traditional authentication methods continue to frustrate even the most patient consumers when the info is forgotten, stolen or has to be typed onto tiny keyboards.

Advancements in authentication and anti-fraud tech are making legacy cardholder verification methods – such as signature and PINs – optional for most merchants and issuers (in October 2018, signatures became optional for EMV® Chip-enabled merchants on the Visa payment network due to the security capabilities of the chip).

As the ecosystem evolves to be more secure, Visa envisions a future where we can reduce or eliminate the use of legacy verification methods by leveraging AI and biometrics. These authentication methods fit the modern payment system – a system shifting in transaction volume from in-person to digital transactions.

A survey commissioned by Visa in 2017 showed consumers welcome the use of biometrics as faster, easier, and more secure alternatives to passwords. Eighty six percent of consumers were interested in using biometrics to verify identity or to make payments.. It’s been roughly 6 years since fingerprint sensors appeared on smartphones, and in this short amount of time, consumers have grown increasingly comfortable with the approach. The need for quick and easy authentication will only increase with the growth of digital products and services.

The survey is still very timely, thus making it worth a read.