Mumbai, Mar 30 (IANS): Digital payments leader Visa on Wednesday launched a new programme to help creators such as digital-first artists, musicians, fashion designers, and filmmakers accelerate their small businesses through non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Called the 'Visa Creator Programme', the initiative will help next-generation entrepreneurs understand and use NFTs.

"NFTs have the potential to become a powerful accelerator for the creator economy," said Cuy Sheffield, Head of the Crypto, Visa.

"Through the Visa Creator Program, we want to help this new breed of small and micro businesses tap into new mediums for digital commerce," Sheffield added.

Currently, close to 50 million artists, musicians, and creators across the world publish content as a full- or part-time source of income.

With an estimated market size of more than $100 billion, the creator economy is one of the fastest-growing categories of small businesses.

Visa said that it aims to help creators navigate the technology behind NFTs and be able to better understand what value it can unlock for digital ownership and monetization of creative assets, making it more accessible.

Selected creators will join a cohort-driven programme designed to build and deepen their fluency in crypto commerce and traditional payments.

The programme will offer mentorship with Visa's team of crypto product and strategy leaders, to cover topics including evaluating tradeoffs between underlying blockchain networks, smart contracts, and NFT marketplaces.

It will also provide one-time stipend to help creators kickstart the next phase of growth.