INTERSWITCH LAUNCHES IN TANZANIA

CEO, Bernard Matthewman

INTERSWITCH, the leading integrated digital payments and commerce provider focused on Africa has today announced its entry into Tanzania and unveiled its new corporate identity. This marks a new phase inInters witch’s expansionacross Africa with operations now in six (6) countries.

The entry into East Africa follows the completion of the merger with leading East African e-payments provider Paynet Group.  Effectively, Paynet Tanzanianowbecomes Interswitch.

Paynetbegun operations  in 2003 and isbest known for a number of innovations includinglinking ATMs with M-PESA in Tanzania (Vodacom M-Pesa) and Kenya (Safaricom- M-Pesa), and driving the adoption of EMV Chip cards across Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.

Following these announcements, Tanzania becomes the sixth country where Interswitch has rebranded its operations in Africa with its new corporate identity seeking to establish uniform brand values and identity across Africa.

Speaking during the launch held at the Hyatt Regency- the Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Interswitch East Africa CEO Bernard Matthewman said the launch of the new brand in Tanzania was a statement of Interswitch’s leading position in the market and reflects its ambition to continue to grow its world class service across the African continent.

“Interswitch’s new logo and brand is a confident statement of our leading position in the market and sets us apart from the competition. The bold design clearly reflects the best-in-class service we provide our customers, our ambitious pan-African expansion plans and our relentless pursuit of new and innovative e-payment solutions for the African market. At Interswitch we continue to push the frontiers of not just digital payments but commerce as a whole.

He added:

“We now have an unrivalled, truly borderless pan-African payment infrastructure under Interswitch which we will leverage to enable faster transactions, innovation and even greater value for our partners and the community.”

Regional Head of Marketing & Corporate Communications Cynthia Kantai said the new identity celebratesInterswitch’s continuous drive to innovate e-payment solutions tailored to the African market with the aim of delivering ‘intuitive exchange’, where transactions happen at the speed of thought.

She said the new bold yet simple design encapsulates the personality, drive and values of integrity and trust that are central to the Interswitch brand.

Cynthia Kantai

Since launching in 2002, Interswitch has grown rapidly and consistently, resulting in a current transaction volume of over 350 million transactions per month and more than US$32 billion a year across its platforms. Interswitch, according to Deloitte, is the fastest growing tech company in Africa with revenue growth of 1226% in the last five years.

During the event,Interswitch also announced the launch of   Verve, an exciting new card and payment scheme offered by Verve International, an Interswitch Group company.

Verve is the biggest payment card brand in Nigeria with more than 30 million payment tokens, and is rapidly expanding issuance and acceptance across the African continent and is now issued by over 40 banks in Africa. The launch of the card now expands Verve card operations into Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, South Sudan and Rwanda with integration into existing operations in Uganda.

 Verve already hasa strategic partnership with UBABankand KCB for both ATMs and merchant POS. . . . This announcement now expands Verve card acceptance and payment services into five key East African markets.

Verve International is pursuing acceptance of the Verve card around the world. In 2013 the company signed a partnership agreement with Discover Financial Services (DFS), the owners of Diner’s Club, which will give Verve cardholders access to the Discover global network of over 185 countries and territories across the world.

Richard Coate, Verve International Regional head in East Africa said:

“We are seeing rapidly expanding trade flows between East and West Africa and with that increased travel. Expansion of Verve acceptance across Africa and around the world is part of the long-term strategic vision for our business. It will also foster closer business partnerships between East and West Africa and improve the ease of doing business on the continent, thereby encouraging even stronger growth. We have created Africa’s first truly global payment card brand and an important symbol of Africa’s economic power.”

Note That

Interswitch is an Africa-focused integrated digital payments and commerce company that facilitates the electronic circulation of money as well as the exchange of value between individuals and organizations on a timely and consistent basis.

The company started operations in 2002 as a transaction switching and electronic payments processing company that builds and manages payment infrastructure as well as deliver innovative payment products and transactional services throughout the African continent.

Interswitch provides technology integration, advisory services, and payment infrastructure to government, banks and corporate organizations. We process transactions from various channels namely: ATMs, mobile, PoS, online (web) and IVR;

For more about Interswitch, log on to: www.interswitchgroup.com

About Verve International