Interswitch
Connecting Africa's financial ecosystem through integrated switching and digital payments infrastructure
What it does
Interswitch was founded in 2002 by Mitchell Elegbe to digitize Nigeria's paper-based financial system through shared switching infrastructure. The corporate giant provides payment switching, debit card issuance (Verve), and consumer web payment systems (Quickteller). Notably, it achieved unicorn valuation status after a major equity investment from Visa.
Switching & routingPayment processors / acquirersCard issuing & managementCard scheme infrastructurePOS / mPOS solutionsBill payments & aggregators
Known for
- Pioneering digital payments infrastructure in Nigeria
- Verve card scheme
- Quickteller transaction platform
- African fintech unicorn status
Model & industry
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (fintech rails)All / Cross-industry
Funding history
$480.0M
Total raised
3
Rounds
Private Equity
Latest stage
2022
Latest year
| Date | Stage | Amount | Lead investor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-05 | Private Equity | $110.0M | LeapFrog Investments |
| 2019-11 | Private Equity | $200.0M | Visa |
| 2010-12 | Private Equity | $170.0M | Helios Investment Partners |
Source: Condia Funding Tracker
Products & subsidiaries
Verve Card · Card SchemeQuickteller · Consumer Payment PortalInterswitch Switch & Gateway · Payment Infrastructure
Acquisitions
- eClat Healthcare (2019). Healthtech platform integration for healthcare payments.
- Vanso (2016). Mobile financial services and messaging provider.