Visa has launched its Everywhere Initiative in Australia and New Zealand, inviting start-ups to use its application programming interface to develop new payments ideas. Visa is taking entries until the end of August and will invite a shortlist to take part in a public pitch event in Sydney in September. This is the first time the competition has been run in Australia. Previous events have been in the US and China. Winners get some cash and the chance to run a pilot with Visa. Consumer finance company FlexiGroup is being shopped around to international buyers according to speculation in the the Australian Financial Review's Street Talk column. The company's shares have slumped in the past year, following criticism from some analysts that parts of the business have not performed well. Former CBA senior executive Symon Brewis-Weston took over at FlexiGroup in November and is overhauling its operations.