Interswitch: Still Processing Nigeria's Transactions 24 Years Later
Founded in 2002, pioneering fintech Interswitch remains the core transaction switching engine of Nigeria's digital payment economy, processing billions of transactions 24 years later.
Lagos, Nigeria — May 15, 2026 — Digital payments pioneer Interswitch continues to anchor Nigeria's transaction switching infrastructure 24 years after its founding in 2002. Under Mitchell Elegbe, Interswitch pioneered interbank card switching, chip-and-PIN migrations, and Verve card schemes.
Today, Interswitch processes over 1.5 billion monthly transactions, bridging traditional banks, digital fintechs, and merchant networks. Its Verve card scheme and Quickteller platform remain widely used consumer brands.
Despite intense competition from newer startups, Interswitch's legacy integration with commercial banking networks serves as a strong operational moat, securing its position as a central player in the payment system.
Interswitch's B2B banking integration is a powerful operational moat that newer, consumer-focused fintechs cannot easily replicate. While agile platforms dominate retail peer-to-peer transfers, Interswitch retains control over high-volume clearing and settlement networks. This core infrastructure ensures Interswitch remains highly profitable, even as it delay its long-planned public market listing.
Lemina News
✓ VERIFIEDLemina's newsroom covers fundraising pipelines, financial services policy, and private asset valuations across African technology hubs — verified against the platform's underlying company data.