Verve International Accelerates Market Growth Through Payment Scheme Expansion, Celebrates Payment Card Issuance Milestone

·         Expands Network to over 200 direct Scheme members across Africa

·         Issues over 35 million Verve cards in Nigeria

With an increasing global need for safe and convenient payment options, Africa’s leading payment technology and card business, Verve International has announced a marked expansion in its payment scheme, onboarding over 200 direct Scheme members cross-continent and also firmly consolidating its growing market share in Nigeria - in terms of card issuance and transactions, having now issued over 35 million active payment cards to date, as well as a combined aggregate of well over 50 million tokens, taking into account its complement of physical (plastic) and digital payment tokens.

On the African front, Verve cardholders are provided with the benefit of using the Verve card in Nigeria and 21 other African countries, underscoring the company's resolve to ensure the seamlessness of transactions across the continent, particularly for the critical mass of consumer demographics, whilst driving value and efficiency for African financial institutions.

On a global scale, through strategic partnerships with partners such as Discover Financial Services, as well as a plethora of rapidly expanding issuing and acceptance partnerships, including major financial institutions such as KCB across East Africa and a growing network of SACCOs in Kenya and Uganda who issue/accept Verve cards; Verve cardholders are able to perform transactions and make payments from anywhere and anytime using their Verve Card. The Verve Global Card from the Discover partnership is accepted in 185 countries that include the United States of America, United Kingdom, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Very recently, in a bid to further expand its footprint in the East African region, Verve deepened its partnership with KCB Bank of Uganda in a move that will see the acceptance of the Verve Card on KCB Bank’s widespread and strategically distributed Point of Sale (POS) merchant network across Uganda, commemorated with a joint announcement and media event in Kampala earlier in February.

Cardholders have come to regard Verve as a safe and reliable payment solution for everything payment. Verve cards can be used across a wide range of payment channels like Point of Sale (POS) terminals, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), web, among others.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Verve International, Vincent Ogbunude, stated that Verve continues to provide innovative ways to make transactions and payment more secure and convenient for loyal customers across the globe.

He said, "As the world continues the shift towards a cashless system, and in the face of an increased uptake of digital payments, it has become important that we find new and innovative ways to serve our cardholders and ensure that they have a seamless and secure payment experience, providing them with the good life.

"At Verve, we remain focused on improving our customers' experiences, while making their lives better; and with this in mind, we seek out opportunities to ensure that mechanisms that will make our goals possible are put in place."

Verve international is the first and only EMV-certified pan-African, customer-centric payment scheme (a subsidiary of the Interswitch Group), issuing cards and payment solutions to individuals, issuers, and organizations; and remains committed to pushing the bounds in terms of customer experience and payment possibilities.