Africa's Payment Landscape

Africa’s Payment Landscape: Interswitch and ACI Worldwide Deepen Strategic Partnership to Revolutionise the Sector

Africa’s payment landscape has undergone significant transformations in recent years, driven by technological advancements, changing consumer behaviour, and the rise of fintechs. Amid this evolution, Interswitch Group, one of the continent’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce companies, has strengthened its longstanding partnership with ACI Worldwide, a global leader in real-time payments software, to unlock new opportunities for growth and innovation.

This new phase of the partner­ship elevates Interswitch’s relation­ship with ACI from reseller to stra­tegic partner, granting Interswitch the right to sell ACI’s innovative payment solutions across 32 African countries. This milestone agreement consolidates the 20-year relationship, paving the way for the deployment of even more cutting-edge payment infrastructure across the continent.

Interswitch has integrated the ACI Enterprise Payments Platform into its technology stack, offering a robust end-to-end payments hub solution for retail and wholesale pay­ments. This comprehensive platform encompasses issuing, low-value re­al-time payments, acquiring, ATM and self-service banking, and fraud management, future-proofing pay­ments infrastructure and meeting customer demands for all payment types.

Salaries and compensation for Nigerian workers can now be paid in US Dollars, you acquire premium domains for as low as $1500 and PROFIT $22,000 ( ₦34 million) Click here.
By leveraging ACI’s innovative payment solutions, Interswitch is enabling banks, fintech, and other financial institutions across Africa to respond swiftly to evolving trends, regulatory mandates, and competi­tion. According to the 2024 Prime Time for Real-Time report published by ACI Worldwide in partnership with GlobalData, Africa had the highest real-time share of electronic payments in 2023 at 40%, with Nige­ria as the undisputed real-time pay­ments leader in Africa. The country recorded 7.9 billion transactions in 2023; real-time payments had an im­pressive 82.1% share of all electronic payments in 2023. The partnership will drive digital transformation and innovation across the continent, meeting the growing demands for digital payment.

During recent customer engage­ment events in Kenya and Nigeria, hosted by ACI and Interswitch, prom­inent financial institutions such as banks, microfinance banks, and fin­tech companies gathered to explore the latest trends and innovations in digital payments and payment mod­ernization. These insightful conver­sations highlight how businesses and customers can harness technology to foster digital payment capabilities and unlock transformative opportu­nities within the financial sector.

Santhosh Rao, Senior Vice Presi­dent of MEASA at ACI, commented, “Our partnership with Interswitch signifies our commitment to revolu­tionize digital payments across the continent. By combining our exper­tise and cutting-edge technology, we aim to create a seamless, inclusive, and modern payment ecosystem that empowers individuals, businesses, and communities to thrive.”

Rao highlighted that flexible, agile, and innovative payment soft­ware solutions will now be available to banks and other financial institu­tions across Africa, enabling them to future-proof their payments in­frastructure and meet new customer demands.

Jonah Adams, Managing Direc­tor of Digital Infrastructure and Managed Services (Interswitch Sys­tegra) emphasized the importance of sustainable payments infrastruc­ture to support the rising demand for digital transactions. “With the continued rise in real-time trans­actions and digital payments, providing sustainable payments infrastructure is imperative. We are excited to join forces with ACI to unlock the vast potential of Afri­ca’s payments landscape and create a brighter future for all stakehold­ers. This collaboration will enable faster, more secure, and more inclu­sive payment experiences across the continent,” said Adams.

Interswitch reiterated its commit­ment to meeting the unique needs of its customers through cutting-edge technologies like ACI’s Enterprise Payment Platform and its own tech­nology stack, driving growth and profitability for financial players’ businesses.

You may also like

Popular News