Verve surpasses 50m payment cards as issuance hit 42% in one year

Verve International, Africa’s domestic payments scheme said it now has over 50 million issued payment cards to date.

According to the company, the development comes barely a year after it announced it had issued 35 million cards in Nigeria in March 2022, translating to 42 percent growth in year-on-year issuance volumes.

Vincent Ogbunude, chief executive officer, Verve International Speaking on this latest business milestone stated that Verve continues to provide innovative ways to make transactions and payment more secure and convenient for our customers across Africa and beyond.

“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,” Ogbunude said.

The scheme stated that its major focus is 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, Flywire, among others.

In 2022, the payment scheme said it partnered with Opay to roll 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 and empowering millions of Opay users to transact with Verve cards directly from their wallets

Meanwhile, Verve cards can be used across a wide range of payment channels like Point of Sale (POS) terminals, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Agency banking channels, Web, e-Commerce, and Mobile Apps