The Andhra Pradesh government has signed MoUs with VISA and Thomson Reuters to bring them here, according to a press release.

The MoUs were signed in Mumbai on Wednesday in the presence of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

The two companies will set up establishments in the Fintech Valley at Rushikonda here. In addition to VISA and Thomson Reuters, Fitech Valley here has so far signed 13 MoUs with various fintech firms. Thomson Reuters will build fintech initiatives using government-provided infrastructure and university resources.

Visa will help sustain financial inclusion, increase digital adoption and develop educational curricula for financial literacy. Visa will also introduce latest technologies quick response (QR) code and near-field communication (NFC) to enable digital payments for government and business segments.

Expressing happiness, Chief Minister said, “The MoUs are a step towards converting our vision to reality – of making Andhra Pradesh the leader in fintech ecosystem — through Fintech Valley Vizag. Both these companies, Visa and Thomson Reuters, will contribute significantly to strengthening the existing ecosystem.”

The Chief Minister said that the government had finalised a plan to create five lakh jobs in the State by 2020 through technology-enabled services. He said, “Our aim is to turn Fintech Valley into a global hub by enhancing the fintech ecosystem with mutually beneficial cross border collaborations and relationships. This can lead the way in the technological and financial growth of the nation.”

Special Chief Secretary and IT Advisor to AP Chief Minister JA Chowdary, Special Representative on Innovation and IT Latha Ayyar and COO of Bharti AXA, IT Secretary Vijayanand, UIDAI Chairperson and former IT Secretary, Government of India J Satyanarayana, Group Country Manager of Visa India TR Ramachandran and Managing Director of Thomson Reuters South Asia Pradeep Lankapalli were present.

The State government is also hosting the first Fintech Valley Vizag Spring Festival on March 9 and 10. The conference will bring together fintech companies, start-ups, researchers and key government officials working in the sector.