Our task for this project was to solve for a global problem and design a solution that can incorporate VISA in its idea. Our team worked with the Vice President of Global Innovation of VISA and the problem we decided to tackle was homelessness. We interviewed homeless people in various low-income communities around the Bay Area, including East Palo Alto, Redwood City, and San Francisco to understand their situation and their lifestyle. We also talked to organizations that provide resources to help the homeless.

The solution was came up with is a community-based peer-to-peer lending platform that would be a service provided by VISA for its customers who are going through difficult economic situations or are on the verge of foreclosure or bankruptcy. Different from currently existing peer-to-peer lending services, the value proposition of our idea is that we will incorporate educational tools that would help borrowers learn the concepts of saving, budgeting and responsible spending. This service would also provide a financial coach that would provide guidance and valuable professional advice to borrowers who are in need.

[Persona][Executive Summary]