Nigeria founded card brand Verve International expands to Kenya

In pursuit of its goal to become the continent’s leading payment card brand, Verve International, which is extensively regarded as one of the tech success stories from Nigeria, has officially entered the East African market starting with Kenya.

The company announced its entrance into the Kenyan market at a launch event in Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi where the company also announced a strategic partnership with Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB). The partnership with KCB will make it possible for Verve to expand its card acceptance and payment services to six key East African markets.
Verve calls itself Nigeria’s ‘biggest payment card brand in Nigeria’ with more than 30 million payment tokens, and is expanding issuance and acceptance across the African continent – its cards are now being issued by over 40 banks in Africa.

With the launch of the Kenya operations, the Verve network will be extended into Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, South Sudan and Rwanda and an integration into existing operations in Uganda.
“The launch opens the way for Verve card users to enjoy services in Kenya and key East African markets. Verve also intends to begin issuing branded cards to Kenyan and East African customers in the near term. 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,” the company stated.

Charles Ifedi is the Chief Executive Officer of Verve International, he said: “East and West Africa are host to some of the fastest growing economies on the continent. We are also seeing rapidly expanding trade flows between the two regions, 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.

“Verve’s commitment and drive is to always go the extra mile to satisfy its customers everywhere in Africa with a convenient, safe and secure payment platform.”