They are: The NEXO Standards Community and PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) towards securing interoperability, and future-ready payment infrastructure to boost seamless financial transactions amongst its card holders.

The PCI Security Standards Council is the global governing body responsible for setting and overseeing security standards that protect cardholder data across the entire payment ecosystem, including card schemes, banks, processors, merchants, and solution providers.

Its standards help ensure that all entities involved in storing, processing, or transmitting card data meet strict security requirements, reducing exposure to fraud, data breaches, regulatory penalties, and operational risk.

By joining PCI SSC, Verve aligns more closely with globally recognised best practices for payment security and gains the opportunity to actively contribute African perspectives to ongoing discussions shaping the future of card data protection worldwide.

Verve has also joined the NEXO Standards community, home to some of the most influential global standards for payment acceptance.

NEXO delivers modern, universal, and interoperable messaging standards that enable banks, processors, and payment terminals to communicate in a clear, consistent, and feature-rich manner.

This membership supports Verve’s continued efforts to simplify integration, improve interoperability across markets, and accelerate innovation in payment acceptance, particularly as digital and cross-border transactions expand across Africa and beyond.

Speaking on the development, Vincent Ogbunude, managing director, Verve International, said:

“Security, trust, and seamless interoperability remain central to Verve’s mission. Joining the PCI Security Standards Council and the NEXO Standards community strengthens our alignment with global best practices and enhances our ability to deliver secure, scalable, and future-ready payment solutions for our partners and cardholders across Africa and beyond.”

Membership of both PCI SSC and NEXO Standards underscores Verve’s broader strategy to modernise payment infrastructure, reduce technical barriers for issuers, acquirers, and merchants, and support smarter, more secure payment experiences across the continent.

With these affiliations, Verve continues to deepen its role within the global payments ecosystem, contributing to the evolution of standards that underpin secure, reliable, and interoperable digital commerce worldwide.

The move is a strategic play to align Africa’s largest domestic card scheme with international best practices in cybersecurity, interoperability, and cross-border payment infrastructure.

Strengthening the Shield: The PCI SSC Alliance

By joining the PCI SSC – the global authority that sets the rules for protecting cardholder data, Verve is positioning itself at the table where global security standards are drafted.

The Goal: To ensure that banks, processors, and merchants using Verve meet the most stringent requirements to prevent fraud and data breaches.

The Impact: Beyond compliance, Verve will now provide an African perspective to the council, ensuring that global security protocols account for the unique dynamics of the continent’s digital economy.

Seamless Transactions: The NEXO Standards Integration

Verve’s entry into the NEXO Standards community focuses on technical “language.” NEXO provides universal messaging protocols that allow payment terminals, banks, and processors to communicate regardless of borders.

Interoperability: This membership will simplify how Verve cards interact with international payment systems.

Scalability: It accelerates the speed at which Verve can roll out new payment acceptance innovations for merchants and acquirers, particularly for cross-border trade.

Speaking on the dual membership, Vincent Ogbunude, managing director of Verve International, noted that the move reinforces the brand’s mission to provide “future-ready” solutions.

“Security, trust, and seamless interoperability remain central to Verve’s mission. Joining the PCI Security Standards Council and the NEXO Standards community strengthens our alignment with global best practices and enhances our ability to deliver secure, scalable, and future-ready payment solutions,” Ogbunude stated.

What This Means for the African Market

For issuers and merchants, Verve’s global alignment reduces technical barriers and operational risks. As Africa’s digital commerce landscape becomes increasingly integrated with global markets, having a homegrown scheme that speaks the “global language” of security and messaging is critical for long-term competitiveness.

Techeconomy’s perceptive is that Verve’s membership in these bodies is a clear signal that it is looking beyond being a local champion.

By adopting PCI and NEXO standards, Verve is removing the technical friction that often hampers domestic schemes when they try to scale internationally.

For the Nigerian fintech ecosystem, this raises the bar for security expectations and moves the industry closer to a unified, global standard of operation.

The unveiling took place at the 2026 Verve Biz Unwind held at the Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel in Lagos.

The event served as a high-level forum for banks, fintech innovators, merchants, and payment processors to discuss the future of the continent’s payment landscape.

The Move to Secure Transactions

Verve Tokenization arrives at a time when digital commerce is experiencing rapid growth, driven by contactless payments and embedded finance. The new solution works by replacing sensitive cardholder information with unique, device-bound digital tokens.

How it works: Every transaction generates a unique cryptogram, ensuring that actual card details are never exposed during the payment process.

By eliminating the transmission of raw card data, the solution significantly lowers the risk of data breaches and fraudulent activities, providing a more secure environment for both consumers and merchants.

Collaboration as a Growth Driver

Speaking at the event, Paul Ohakim, vice president, Issuing & Acquiring (Africa) at Verve International, emphasized that the complexity of the modern financial ecosystem requires a unified approach.

“As digital commerce accelerates, no single institution can shape the future of payments alone. Stronger collaboration between banks, fintechs, merchants, and processors is essential to delivering secure, seamless, and inclusive payment experiences across Africa,” Ohakim stated.

He further noted that tokenization is not merely a backend upgrade but a structural shift in how payments are secured and monetized.

The technology enables a single Verve card to function securely across multiple digital environments, including wallets, banking apps, and e-commerce checkouts, without sacrificing user convenience.

What This Means for the Ecosystem

The 2026 edition of Verve Biz Unwind highlighted several key trends currently transforming the industry:

• Accelerated Contactless Adoption: Increasing demand for faster, “tap-and-go” payment methods.
• Open Banking Frameworks: The shift toward more integrated and transparent financial data sharing.
• Real-time Payments: The rising consumer expectation for instantaneous transaction processing.

By introducing tokenization, Verve aims to future-proof Africa’s payment infrastructure, ensuring it remains resilient against evolving cyber threats while supporting the scale of digital trade.

Founded in 2018, The Power 50 shines a spotlight on those who are transforming financial services for the better and delivers ongoing support and development for participants.

Bringing together a diverse yet interconnected community, the Payments Power 50 will serve as a reminder of the significant strides being made in the payments space.

From established financial giants to rising fintech stars, the list will also include well-known influencers whose insights and contributions continue to inspire and challenge the industry.

Since its launch in 2009, Verve has had a spectacular trajectory against daunting odds, carving an impressive niche for itself as Africa’s first world-standard EMV chip and PIN payments card, starting from Nigeria and expanding its issuance and acceptance across over 25 African Countries.

Verve Payment Cards in Nigeria, Africa’s largest consumer market and its pioneer country of issuance have, to date, surpassed 70 million issued payment cards.

Over the last few years, Verve has grown to become the payment card of choice across various tiers of banking service and particularly within the burgeoning fintech/neobank space in Nigeria.

This growth has been driven by significant strategic partnerships across commercial and microfinance banking spheres, as well as fintechs, OFIs, and the public sector supported by sustained innovation and demonstrated understanding of the requirements of its local markets.

As Africa’s premier and leading domestic payment cards scheme, Verve remains focused on addressing peculiar market challenges in Africa by providing secure and cost-effective payment options for individuals and businesses to exchange value, offering both virtual and physical cards that facilitate payment for an increasing number of international services in local currency.

In the last three years, Verve has made significant progress in this regard, having achieved merchant acceptance with platforms such as Google, Spotify, Netflix, Showmax, Amazon Prime, Facebook, Microsoft, Uber, and Flywire, to mention a few, underscoring a strong resolve to continue to drive relevant partnerships that provide its users in Africa with convenient opportunities to access global services in local denominations.

“We are thoroughly delighted at Verve International and Interswitch with this global recognition on the Payments Power 50 list for 2025, as we continue to consolidate our delivery of global-standard payment solutions essentially tailored to economic and operational realities of the markets where we play across Africa, whilst leveraging value-adding partnerships that ensure we scale our impact and turbo-charge financial inclusion on the African continent. We are grateful to all our customers and partners, and indeed all our colleagues at Verve and Interswitch whose passion and consistent hard work have invariably facilitated global acclaim….” Stated Vincent Ogbunude, managing director for Payment Cards and Tokens at Interswitch and CEO for Verve International.

“Each year, The Power 50 celebrates the standout talent within the fintech community, showcasing ground-breaking companies and influential leaders from across the globe,” says Jason Williams, CEO of The Power 50. “Earning a place on The Power 50 is a testament to the impact individuals and businesses are making in shaping the future of fintech. It also serves as a trusted benchmark for excellence in the industry.”

It would be recalled that Interswitch Group also achieved recognition in the 2022 Global Fintech Power-50, in its 20th anniversary year.

The Payments Power 50 will be featured on the website, with honourees benefiting from exclusive content opportunities, networking events, and year-round industry engagement.

Members of this 2025 inaugural cohort of The Payments Power-50 will be celebrated at the Payments Power 50 Launch Party in London at the Blue Marlin Ibiza on Wednesday, March 26, powered by The Power 50, Pay360, CCGroup, and Paymentology.

Verve International, Africa’s first and largest domestic payments scheme has yet again attained a remarkable new milestone in its business, firmly consolidating its growing market share in Nigeria – in terms of card issuance and transactions.

Verve now has over 50 million issued payment cards to date. This development comes barely a year after the scheme announced it had issued 35 million cards in Nigeria in March 2022, translating to 42% growth in issuance volumes YoY.

Verve has become the payment card of choice across various tiers of banking service and particularly within the burgeoning fintech space in Nigeria.

It would be recalled that in October 2022, Verve and Opay announced a significant partnership in Nigeria, rolling out the OPay Verve Instant Debit Card, directly linked to OPay user wallets, thereby making it easy and convenient to make payments for goods and services, essentially empowering millions of Opay users to transact with Verve cards directly from their wallets

Verve, as Africa’s premier and leading domestic payment cards scheme is focused on addressing peculiar market challenges in Africa by providing secure and cost-effective payment options for individuals and businesses to exchange value.

Verve offers both virtual and physical cards that facilitate payment for an increasing number of international services in local currency, and has made significant progress in this regard, having achieved merchant acceptance with platforms such as Netflix, Showmax, Amazon Prime, Facebook, Microsoft, Uber, and Flywire, to mention a few.

Verve also has a number of major partnerships in the works, underscoring its strong resolve to continue to drive such partnerships that provide users in Africa convenient opportunities to access global services in local denominations.

On the African front, Verve cardholders are provided with the benefit of using the Verve card in Nigeria and over 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.

Particularly noteworthy, are rapidly expanding issuing and acceptance partnerships across East Africa, including major financial institutions such as the 2 largest financial institutions KCB Group and more recently Equity Bank.

On a global perspective, through strategic partnerships with Discover Financial Services, Verve cardholders are able to perform transactions and make payments while outside Africa, using their Verve Global Cards. 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).

Verve has significantly expanded its footprints in the East African region, deepening 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 the region, in addition to a more recent partnership with Equity Bank Group announced in June 2022, which saw Equity also become an acquirer for Verve cards, adding to its wide portfolio of cards accepted by all Point-of-Sale (POS) machine locations and ATMs countrywide.

Speaking on this latest business milestone Vincent Ogbunude, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Verve International, stated that Verve continues to provide innovative ways to make transactions and payment more secure and convenient for our customers across Africa and beyond.

He said;

“As the progressive shift towards cashless payments accelerates, and in view of the peculiarities of the markets in which we do business, it has become important that we continue to consolidate in delivering global-standard payment solutions tailored to economic and operational realities of the environment, whilst doubling-down on value-adding partnerships that ensure we scale our impact and turbo-charge financial inclusion on the African continent…”

“13 years ago, we defied daunting odds and set out to chart a course for a brave new world of payments in Africa. Today we are thoroughly delighted and proud to celebrate this phenomenal milestone of 50 million cards and counting, which effectively positions Verve as the leading payment cards scheme in Africa’s most significant consumer market.”

Verve international, a subsidiary of the Interswitch Group, Africa’s leading integrated digital payments and commerce enabler is the first EMV-certified pan-African domestic payment card 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.

Cardholders have come to regard Verve as a safe, convenient 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), Agency banking channel, Web / eCommerce, and Mobile Apps

The payment brand has onboarded 50 additional scheme members, bringing the total number of its scheme members to 250, spread across banks and other financial institutions.

Verve’s position as a market leader can be attributed to its ceaseless dedication to creating innovative payment solutions as well as leveraging strategic partnerships that provide Verve cardholders with more convenient and secure payment options.

One of such options is the contactless payment solution that enables customers complete transactions in record time.

The integration of contactless payment technology allows Verve to provide a seamless and secure payment experience with its over 45 million cards in circulation, for existing and newly onboarded individuals and businesses who will be able to make payments faster by simply tapping their Verve cards at payment terminals with the contactless feature, including Point of Sale (PoS) terminals at merchant and agent locations.

Verve’s contactless payment card leverages the latest security technology to protect customers’ personal and financial information using the EMV technology.

Speaking on the newly onboarded members, Vincent Ogbunude, Managing Director, Verve International stated that the Verve brand remains committed to providing customers with competitive value in the payment landscape, not just in Nigeria, but across the globe.

He said “We are excited to continue expanding our payment scheme and pushing the frontiers of innovation in the payment industry. We will continue to drive partnerships that do not only simplify payments but also provide topnotch inventive payment experience for Verve cardholders to strengthen the growth of the digital payment ecosystem”.

On the Verve contactless card, Vincent noted that the adoption of contactless technology is growing rapidly, and the Verve brand is proud to be part of this development, offering its customers a fast, secure, and convenient payment experience.

As a proudly indigenous card, with recognition as the first EMV-enabled domestic payment card in Nigeria. Verve, through strategic partnerships with Discover Financial Services, extends its acceptance footprint to over 180 countries.

The company has shown commitment to leveraging emerging technologies like contactless payment to avail cardholders seamless and secure payment solutions.

Verve’s vision aligns with that of its parent company, the Interswitch Group, pushing the frontiers of innovation and creating platforms through which Africans are enabled to live more prosperous lives.

The Verve Transact and Win Promo organized in collaboration with First Bank was designed to reward loyal Verve cardholders with cash and exciting prizes during the 14-week period of the promo.

Over 2,500 cardholders were rewarded with more than N50 million worth of prizes, such as; a brand-new car, Generators, Refrigerators, Television sets, Gas cookers, loads of airtime rewards and an array of cash prizes.

Aside the grand prize winner driving away the brand-new car, 100 monthly winners emerged, winning N50,000 cash each and another 100 winning either Gas cookers, Refrigerators or Generator sets.

Over 2,400 lucky cardholders were also rewarded weekly with either TV sets, N20,000 cash, N10,000 cash or N10,000 airtime each. It was indeed a season of rewards and merriment for the First Bank Verve cardholders.

Speaking at the prize presentation ceremony, Vincent Ogbunude, Managing Director of Verve International, said the firm partnered with First Bank to reward loyal customers because they both shared a similar vision of delivering world-class payment solutions to their esteemed customers.

He further said beyond the overarching goals of providing secure and innovative solutions to its customers, Verve is committed to creating unique customer experiences and rewarding customers for their continued patronage. “We congratulate all the lucky cardholders, and we will be taking the excitement a notch higher with the presentation of the gift items and a brand-new car to lucky winners.”

Mr. Chuma Ezirim, FirstBank’s Group Executive, E-Business and Retail Products, said that the aim of the promo was to appreciate the bank’s over eight million Verve Debit Cardholders. He stated that the bank will continue to partner with Verve to reward the patronage of customers.

Mr. Olakunle Animasaun, said he never expected to win the grand prize and he was overwhelmed with the excitement of winning the car.

He said, “Initially I doubted the credibility when someone called me from ​F​irst ​B​ank, informing me I had won a car. I did not believe it, until I got here, saw the car and the key was handed over to me. I thank FirstBank and Verve for this opportunity given to me. I pray that God will continue to bless them.”

He urged other cardholders to continue to use Verve cards to enjoy seamless payment solutions.

The presentation ceremony had representatives from the Regulatory bodies; National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and the Lagos State Lotteries Board (LSLB) among others in attendance.