Verve International

Last updated
Verve International
Type Private company
Industry Financial Technology
Founded2009;14 years ago (2009)
Headquarters,
Key people
Mitchell Elegbe, GMD/CEO
Charles Ifedi,
Mike Ogbalu III, CEO
Services Payment service provider
Website myverveworld.com

Verve International is a Nigerian Pan-African and multinational financial technology and payment card brand owned by Interswitch Group. [1]

Contents

History

Verve was founded in 2009, as a subsidiary of Interswitch. In 2013, it became an autonomous business entity in a restructuring exercise. [2]

In 2005 the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a mandate to the Nigerian payment industry that operators should migrate from magnetic strip to EMV chip and PIN platform by 2009. The CBN migration policy was adopted to phase out the magnetic strip when the technology became susceptible to fraudulent transactions. It initially issued six million cards in partnership with several Nigerian banks. [3] [4] [5]

Verve offers card products in Nigeria. In 2013, Verve was reported to have "over 20 million cards in circulation and access over 119,631 points of sale terminals, 11,287 ATMs and over 1,000 online merchants." [6]

In March 2013, Discover Financial Services partnered with Interswitch, which enabled the acceptance of Verve Cards across the Discover global network, covering 185 countries and territories as at the time of the agreement. The alliance also allowed acceptance of Discover and Diners Club International (DCI) Cards at Interswitch-enabled ATM and point-of-sale (POS) terminals for purchases in Nigeria. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

A media report in 2015 said "Verve is issued by 40 banks in Africa with more than 30 million payment tokens in circulation." [12] In October same year, Verve launched its entry into the East African payment market with strategic partnership with Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) "to expand Verve Card acceptance and payment services in six key East African markets", namely: Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, South Sudan, Rwanda and Uganda. [13] [14] [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debit card</span> Card used for financial transactions, usually without a credit line

A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The term plastic card includes the above and as an identity document. These are similar to a credit card, but unlike a credit card, the money for the purchase must be in the cardholder's bank account at the time of a purchase and is immediately transferred directly from that account to the merchant's account to pay for the purchase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EFTPOS</span> Type of electronic payment system

Electronic funds transfer at point of sale is an electronic payment system involving electronic funds transfers based on the use of payment cards, such as debit or credit cards, at payment terminals located at points of sale. EFTPOS technology was developed during the 1980s. In Australia and New Zealand, it is also the brand name of a specific system used for such payments; these systems are mainly country-specific and do not interconnect. In Singapore, it is known as NETS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visa Inc.</span> American multinational financial services corporation

Visa Inc. is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world, most commonly through Visa-branded credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards. Visa is one of the world's most valuable companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mastercard</span> American multinational financial services corporation

Mastercard Inc. is the second-largest payment-processing corporation worldwide. It offers a range of financial services. Its headquarters are in Purchase, New York. Throughout the world, its principal business is to process payments between the banks of merchants and the card-issuing banks or credit unions of the purchasers who use the Mastercard-brand debit, credit and prepaid cards to make purchases. Mastercard has been publicly traded since 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMV</span> Smart payment card standard

EMV is a payment method based on a technical standard for smart payment cards and for payment terminals and automated teller machines which can accept them. EMV stands for "Europay, Mastercard, and Visa", the three companies that created the standard.

Discover is a credit card brand issued primarily in the United States. It was introduced by Sears in 1985. When launched, Discover did not charge an annual fee and offered a higher-than-normal credit limit, features that were disruptive to the existing credit card industry. A subsequent innovation was "Cashback Bonus" on purchases.

UnionPay, also known as China UnionPay or by its abbreviation, CUP or UPI internationally, is a Chinese state-owned financial services corporation headquartered in Shanghai, China. It provides bank card services and a major card scheme in mainland China. Founded on 26 March 2002, China UnionPay is an association for China's banking card industry, operating under the approval of the People's Bank of China. It is also an electronic funds transfer at point of sale (EFTPOS) network, and the only interbank network in China that links all the automatic teller machine (ATMs) of all banks throughout the country. UnionPay cards can be used in 180 countries and regions around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Payment card</span> Card issued by a financial institution that can be used to make a payment

Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and make payments by electronic transfer and access automated teller machines (ATMs). Such cards are known by a variety of names including bank cards, ATM cards, client cards, key cards or cash cards.

An interbank network, also known as an ATM consortium or ATM network, is a computer network that enables ATM cards issued by a financial institution that is a member of the network to be used to perform ATM transactions through ATMs that belong to another member of the network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NETS (company)</span>

Network for Electronic Transfers, colloquially known as NETS, is a Singaporean electronic payment service provider. Founded in 1985, by a consortium of local banks, it aims to establish the debit network and drive the adoption of electronic payments in Singapore. It is owned by DBS Bank, OCBC Bank and United Overseas Bank (UOB).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malaysian Electronic Payment System</span>

The Malaysian Electronic Payment System (MEPS) is an interbank network service provider in Malaysia. In August 2017, MEPS merged with Malaysian Electronic Clearing Corporation Sdn Bhd (MyClear) to form Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet).

The payment card industry (PCI) denotes the debit, credit, prepaid, e-purse, ATM, and POS cards and associated businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euronet Worldwide</span> Electronic payments company

Euronet Worldwide is an American provider of global electronic payment services with headquarters in Leawood, Kansas. It offers automated teller machines (ATM), point of sale (POS) services, credit/debit card services, currency exchange and other electronic financial services and payments software. Among others, it provides the prepaid subsidiaries Transact, PaySpot, e-pay, Movilcarga, TeleRecarga and ATX.

Discover Financial Services is an American financial services company that owns and operates Discover Bank, an online bank that offers checking and savings accounts, personal loans, home equity loans, student loans and credit cards. It also owns and operates the Discover and Pulse networks, and owns Diners Club International. Discover Card is the third largest credit card brand in the United States, when measured by cards in force, with nearly 50 million cardholders. Discover is currently headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Riverwoods, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citibank (Malaysia)</span> Bank in Malaysia

Citibank Berhad is a licensed commercial bank operating in Malaysia with its headquarters in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. Citibank Berhad operates as a subsidiary of Citigroup Holding (Singapore) Private Limited, commencing its banking operations in Malaysia since 1959. Citibank Berhad was locally incorporated in 1994.

The National Payments Corporation of India is an umbrella organization for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India, is an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, for creating a robust Payment & Settlement Infrastructure in India. It was created by RBI for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.

RuPay(portmanteau of Rupee and Payment) is an Indian multinational financial services and payment service system, conceived and launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on 26 March 2012. It was created to fulfil the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) vision of establishing a domestic, open and multilateral system of payments. RuPay facilitates electronic payment at all Indian banks and financial institutions. NPCI maintains ties with Discover Financial, JCB to enable RuPay card scheme to gain international acceptance.

iVeri is a payments technology company that facilitates transaction acceptance for banks and businesses. The company is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Established in 1998, it is South Africa's largest technology provider for physical and mobile commerce.

Interswitch is a leading African integrated payments and digital commerce platform company headquartered in Lagos. Founded in 2002 in Nigeria, as a transaction switching and processing company with national focus, Interswitch progressively evolved to incorporate consumer financial services with the successive launches of Quickteller, a retail payments ecosystem linking merchants and billers with consumers, as well as Verve, a homegrown, EMV-certified payments card scheme.

Flutterwave is a Nigerian fintech company that provides a payment infrastructure for global merchants and payment service providers across the continent.

References

  1. Oluwaseun Oyeniyi (22 January 2014). "VERVE, MICROSOFT, LUMIA PARTNER ON MOBILE PAYMENT COMPETITION". Ventures Africa.
  2. Bankole Orija (11 June 2013). "Interswitch Restructures, Creates 2 Divisions for Regional & Intl. Growth". Nigeria Communications Week.
  3. Victoria Conroy (12 December 2009). "Nigeria Drives African Card Growth". Cards International.
  4. Sola Fanawopo (10 April 2013). "Verve: The Making of a Glocal Payment Card". Value-Conflict.
  5. "Verve, Zap, OthersTop 10 African Fin. Service Tech Products in 2009". 18 January 2010.
  6. "Business spin offs to further African expansion plans - Interswitch says". Technology Times. 17 June 2013.
  7. "Discover Financial Services Announces International Alliance With Nigeria's Interswitch Limited". The Street. 12 March 2013.
  8. "Discover Financial Services partners Nigeria's Interswitch Limited". BusinessDay. 14 March 2013.
  9. Benson Esomojumi (14 March 2013). "Interswitch, Discover Ink Financial Services Agreement". Nigeria Communications Week.
  10. Etinosa Osayimwen (18 March 2013). "Interswitch Verve Cards now accepted in US, other countries". The Herald.
  11. "Discover Financial Services Announces International Alliance With Nigeria'S Interswitch Limited". Discover (Press Release). 12 March 2013.
  12. Funsho Arogundade (6 December 2015). "Verve launches 'Verve World', a revolutionary mobile app, in Nigeria". The News.
  13. Ibukun Taiwo (30 October 2015). "Nigerian Payment Card, Verve, Launches Officially In East Africa". Tech Cabal.
  14. "Nigeria Payment Card Verve Launches in East Africa". Brand Essence. 30 October 2015.
  15. Lilian Ochieng' (29 October 2015). "Nigeria's Verve enters Kenya to compete with Visa, MasterCard". Nation.