Interswitch secures Shs400b funding to extend digital payments across Africa

Interswitch has secured funding worth $110 million (about Shs398b) to scale digital payment services across Africa.

LeapFrog investments and Tiana Africa Capital announced on Wednesday that they were committing the funds into the company. 

“Interswitch has been disrupting the cash economy, driving digital payments and promoting equitable financial inclusion in Nigeria for two decades. This investment by LeapFrog affirms the formidable talent at Interswitch, and how well-placed it is to seize the significant opportunity in Africa’s evolving digital payments landscape,” LeapFrog Investments partner and head of Africa financial services Karima Ola said in a statement.

Interswitch Group CEO Mitchell Elegbe welcomed the investment.

“The evolution of fintech in Nigeria and the broader sub-Saharan region has been driven by the need to solve challenges and barriers that exist within the traditional financial system,” he said.

 “Interswitch was born from the need to develop solutions that match the unique needs of local customers and merchants,” he said.

Interswitch’s last funding round was in 2019 when VISA acquired a 20% stake, valued at $200 million, and helped it become Africa’s second unicorn.

Even then, its products: Verve and Quickteller, were already selling in 23 African countries and had a physical presence in Gambia, Uganda and Kenya. Today, at a $1 billion valuation, Interswitch is touted as one of Africa’s biggest electronic payments and infrastructure companies.

Interswitch is a technology-driven company focused on the digitisation of payments in Africa. Interswitch’s vision is to make payments a seamless part of everyday life in Africa, and its mission is to create transaction solutions that enable individuals and communities to prosper across Africa.

It began in 2002 as a transaction switching and electronic payments processing business, building and managing payment infrastructure, delivering innovative payments solutions, and driving transactions across Nigeria and other African markets.