FINTECH AFRICA | Interswitch Verve Cards Outpacing MasterCard, VISA in Nigeria, Now With Over 50% Market Share

Verve cards are gaining popularity over MasterCard and VISA cards as Nigerian fintech companies prefer the local and easily accessible option.

According to data published on Statista:

• Verve holds 54% of the Nigerian card market
• 30% of cardholders in Nigeria use MasterCard, and
• Around 18% have VISA cards


According to local reports, all Nigerian commercial banks, except Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), now issue Verve, the card scheme operated by Nigerian payments unicorn, Interswitch.

First Bank, Nigeria’s oldest bank, has issued Verve cards to over half of its card customers, said one person with knowledge of the matter.

Founded in 2009, Verve’s continued rise over the international card schemes is attributed to the Naira’s devaluation, which has made FX-denominated bills more expensive.

“Practically, for a bank or a fintech to be paying Visa and Mastercard hefty fees, shows lack of cost management. I do not see any strategic value in issuing Visa and Mastercard cards in Nigeria right now. You’re just wasting money for really nothing when Verve is there.”

– Ndubuisi Ekekwe, PhD, Chairman of FASMICRO Group

On the fintech side, Chinese-backed fintech, OPay, has issued 13 million Verve cards, while MoniePoint, is said to have issued about 4 million of these cards. Kuda also has its cards by Verve, Africa’s largest card scheme by Interswitch with acceptance in Nigeria, across Africa, Europe and America.

In contrast, neo-bank, Carbon, which previously partnered with VISA, an international card provider, for its card offering, had to shut down its debit card operations with CEO, Ngozi Dozie, questioning the wisdom of launching a card operation billed in USD ($).

The decision to switch to local card schemes is also being attributed to customers’ use of cards for local payments. With spending power under pressure because of inflation, the ability to make global payments, which the big card schemes offer, is useful to only a small percentage of customers.

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