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.

Held on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, the event, themed “United Frontiers: Growth Powered by Innovation, Collaboration, and Compliance,” brought together regulators, fintech leaders, bankers, and innovators to discuss how Africa can balance innovation with compliance to ensure inclusive growth.

Speakers included Musa Jimoh, director of Payment Systems at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Chika Nwosu, managing director of PalmPay; Vincent Ogbunude, CEO of Verve International; and Akeem Lawal, managing director, Interswitch Purepay.

Speaking at the event, Cherry Eromosele, executive vice president, Marketing and Corporate Communications at Interswitch, said the TechConnect series has evolved into a platform for enabling inclusion, aligning regulation with innovation, and strengthening collaboration across the ecosystem.

On Interswitch’s newest innovations, Vincent Ogbunude unveiled cutting-edge solutions such as tokenisation, digital card storage, tap-to-pay transactions, and cross-border interoperability designed to unify Africa’s fragmented payment landscape.

“Interswitch has already crossed the 100 million-card milestone in Nigeria. But we know the future is digital. We’re now enabling users to digitise their cards, store them on mobile devices, and make secure tap-to-pay transactions,” he said.

Ogbunude added that over 40 million Verve cards with contactless functionality have already been rolled out across markets including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Côte d’Ivoire, an achievement that will speed up the continent’s transition to seamless payments.

In his comments, Akeem Lawal noted that compliance is indispensable when it comes to innovation:

“You cannot build sustainable innovation without compliance. It is the foundation of trust, customer experience, and long-term growth. Many see compliance as a checklist; we see it as guardrails that make innovation sustainable,” he said.

The event concluded with awards recognising partners including FirstBank, Zenith Bank, UBA, GTBank, PalmPay, Moniepoint, OneAfriq, Fincra, and others for their contributions to enhancing the payments ecosystem.

The awards presentation session for “Outstanding Performance” was led by the VP, Sales & Account Management, Interswitch Systegra, Robinta Aliyu, and the VP, Business Development, Interswitch Purepay, Etitayo Awe.

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.