Highlights
- Verve (the payment card solutions business) and Interswitch Switching and Processing (the transaction switching business) have been spun off as separate, autonomous businesses
- Rationale for separation is driven by Interswitch’s strategy to orchestrate the next stage of sustainable growth through empowering the various line businesses to broaden and deepen their solution and service offerings to better serve their customers across Africa
- Separation will enable Verve to leverage, to the maximum extent, its recent strategic alliance with the ‘Discover’ network, providing new business opportunities in over 185 countries around the world
- Separation will enable Interswitch Switching and Processing to take its card-agnostic pureplay switching services and third party transaction processing (Mastercard, Visa, Union Pay, Verve) capabilities across the region
- Separation also brings Interswitch’s corporate structure into line with the guidelines of the Payment Systems Vision 2020 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (“CBN”), Verve International and Interswitch Switching and Processing to have separate management teams. Verve International to be led by Mr. Charles Ifedi
- Interswitch Switching and Processing to be led by Mr. Akeem Lawal
Mr. Mitchell Elegbe, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Interswitch Transnational Holdings commented:
“It has always been our desire to evolve into an integrated payments holding business where the various parts of the business are driven to deepen and broaden their relationships with their various customers by creating innovative products and services of real value.
Creating the right governance structure to herald this new phase of sustainable growth has been the focus of the board and management in the last few months. I am elated that we have successfully completed this separation, which took effect from April 1st 2013.”