Visa unveiled the plan for its new Poland-based product-and-tech centre on Tuesday, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
The company said in a statement: “Visa Inc., a global leader in digital payments, today announced that it plans to open a new global Technology and Product Hub in Poland that will be the first of its kind for Visa in Central and Eastern Europe. The Hub will house as many as 1,500 new tech and product hires over the next few years, as Visa invests worldwide to support its 24/7 development model for innovation and drives continued rapid growth in digital commerce and payments.”
Poland is ‘a growing location for top tech talent’: Visa
Visa’s President for Technology Rajat Taneja said that “Poland’s highly skilled workforce and vibrant IT sector make it an ideal location for us to recruit and collaborate with partners and businesses to develop new payment solutions.”
The executive added: “The next wave of our product and innovation roadmap is even more exciting as we focus on the next generation of AI, cybersecurity and the resilience and availability of our network for all who depend on it.”
Poland will serve as Visa’s fifth major strategic global Technology and Product Hub, the company said, describing Poland as “a growing location for top technology talent.”
The digital payments powerhouse added: “In Poland, in particular, Visa will find new ways to harness emerging talent in the region, accelerate product development and innovate at scale to bring value to consumers, clients, buyers and sellers around the world.”
‘Poland is the best place' for tech investment: PM
Visa’s statement quoted Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki as saying: “It is exceptionally good news that Visa, with its unique global experience and know-how, has chosen our country out of all possible locations, thus building Poland's position as the best place for investments in the new technology sector.”
The Polish prime minister added: “Some of the factors that pointed to Poland as a location for this investment were the high qualifications of our IT staff and the significant pool of talent on the labour market. We have great potential to bring highly innovative investments to our country."
'Confirmation of Poland’s attractiveness as an investment destination'
Morawiecki on Tuesday met with Visa’s General Manager for Central and Eastern Europe Jakub Kiwior, according to officials.
The Polish prime minister said after the meeting: “It’s another good news for job creation ... A confirmation of Poland’s attractiveness as an investment destination.”
He added: “Poland has a growing reputation as a centre for various kinds of hubs, for production, technology and service centres from around the world, which spells very well for economic development in our country.”
‘Poland is an excellent place for doing business’: US envoy
Meanwhile, the US ambassador to Warsaw, Mark Brzezinski, congratulated Visa on its plan to open a global product and tech hub in Poland, Polish state news agency PAP reported..
The diplomat said in a Polish-language tweet: “This terrific news confirms what we’ve known for a long time: Poland is an excellent place for doing business.”
Visa has been operating in Poland since 1995, according to the Emerging Europe website.
The first payment card in Poland was a Visa card and the country was the first market in the world to achieve 100 percent contactless availability, Emerging Europe reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, gov.pl, usa.visa.com, emerging-europe.com