Paralympic Canoeist, Jonathan White’s lessons for unleashing the potential of the payments industry

Meet British para-canoeist and Team Visa Athlete, Jonathan White

Jonathan White is a British para-canoeist with over a decade’s experience as a commissioned Officer in the Royal Marines. While on patrol in Afghanistan, he detonated an IED that left him with serious injuries and the loss of both of his legs and right arm

White grew up as an active kid, participating in sports such as climbing, mountain biking, whitewater kayaking, running, and cricket. After his injuries, he became increasingly invested in water sports as a way to recover, push his limits and inspire others.

Not one to shy away from a challenge, White has also taken his skills to marathon racing, competing against able-bodied paddlers.

In training to build his strength and stability, White took home the bronze medal for para-canoe at a 2022 competition, with a personal record time of 1:09:24.

And he’s set to reach another significant milestone on his journey, as he hopes to debut at The Paralympic Games Paris 2024, representing Great Britain.

Strength and stability: from canoes to credentials

Strength and stability are as foundational to Jonathan’s success as they are to global commerce, relying on a strong and stable network that inspires confidence in consumers, businesses, and partners.

In today’s time-poor, quick-fix society, it’s so easy to click on a link without really thinking about it, sometimes with devastating consequences – around three million people a year are victims of fraud in the UK alone¹. Whether it’s an urgent text regarding a fake delivery, a heartfelt request to send a loved one emergency funds, or an opportunity to increase life savings, fraudsters are increasingly opportunistic, and anyone can be deceived.

Having a strong, stable (and secure) payments infrastructure has never been more important.

Visa’s core strength is in our network, which moves money in the blink of an eye, processing up to 65 thousand transactions every single second². And while there is much that individuals can do to protect themselves, we work tirelessly behind the scenes to maintain the network’s stability and keep up the fight against fraudsters. Monitoring +230b transactions for signs of fraud³,our AI-powered capabilities helped us prevent an estimated US$40 billion in fraud last year⁴.

As we enter a new era of innovation in payments, where greater choice and the demand for seamless experiences is set to reach new heights, consumers need more than ever to be confident in the technology, be in control and trust that it will work. We’re bringing our 60+ years’ experience to bear in providing a strong and stable network for consumers and businesses regardless of how they choose to pay.

For example, Visa employs tools which aim to bring our advanced level of analysis and fraud detection capability to real-time payments, and we are proud to be part of a pilot in the UK with Pay.UK and local banks. Operating at the same degree of protection as our Visa Advanced Authorisation tool⁵, we could stop up to 60 per cent of all fraudulent and scam account-to-account transactions⁶ – making a significant impact on the £485 million lost to Authorised Push Payment fraud in the UK last year⁷.