As everyone from startup CEOs to celebrities descend on Austin this weekend, Visa will be there to offer an exciting glimpse into the future of how we’ll pay and get paid. Stop by the Everywhere Lounge for a cup of coffee at the Biometrics Bar (leave your wallet at home and order via eye scan, fingerprint or facial recognition),
sit in the driver’s seat of the Visa-enabled Connected Car and model Rio 2016 Olympic gear in front of magic mirrors using Visa Checkout’s new interactive button for an easier way to pay.
Events will be going on throughout the weekend at the Lounge. Here are a couple of highlights: During Opening Night on Friday, Ben Schwartz from Parks and Recreation and House of Lies will host an improv comedy show alongside Lauren Lapkus (Orange Is the New Black and Jurassic World) and Gil Ozeri, a writer from Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Happy Endings.
On Saturday at 2pm, the second-annual Everywhere Initiative will put startups to the test in The Everywhere API Challenge. Selected startups will pitch their innovative payment solutions that leverage the Visa Developer platform and Visa APIs to a panel of judges. The winning startup will be given the opportunity to receive $25,000 toward developing and executing a prototype or pilot of their idea, plus automatic entry into the Everywhere Initiative finals in San Francisco. RSVP (space is limited)
The Everywhere Initiative was created to build new relationships with emerging talent in the startup community and bring new ideas to enhance the Visa ecosystem. Entries for the main competition will open on April 14 with two additional challenges: The Everywhere Global Events Challenge, which asks startups to creatively leverage popular social media channels to engage fans at Visa-sponsored events and The Everywhere Cardless Challenge, which asks startups how to encourage consumers to load their Visa cards onto every digital payment platform they use.