CEO of Interswitch Group: Cash is used in 85% of transactions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports

According to Mitchell Elegbe, founder and group CEO of Interswitch, 85% of payment transactions in Sub-Saharan Africa are still made in cash.

Speaking during the company’s 20th anniversary media parley, which was held in Lagos, he claimed that there is still a big room for expansion because more than 50% of Nigeria is either unbanked or underbanked.

According to him, technology is at the forefront of society right now and will continue to have a big impact on how we work and live. With one of the fastest growing IT markets in the world, Nigeria is quickly establishing itself as the technological hub of Africa. Interswitch has always been concerned with the larger picture and has always believed that teamwork is better than trying to solve problems on our own. Building a successful company has been crucial, but in order to fulfill our mission of “Inspiring Africa to Greatness,” we also had to do our share to create an atmosphere that would allow the entire ecosystem to flourish.

He stated that Interswitch has launched a new brand campaign to celebrate its 20th anniversary and project its positioning as a pioneering and integral enabler that has actively supported the growth and development of fintech and payments across Africa over the last 20 years as well as to amplify the brand’s forward-thinking outlook as a frontier-driving company that keeps pushing boundaries and facilitates the creation of new ecosystems that help businesses.

There is a lot of enthusiasm at Interswitch as we kick off our festivities today, but there is also a lot of serious contemplation as we take stock of the past 20 years of work to reshape the digital economy of Africa. To make people’s lives simpler when it comes to payments, transactions, and fund access, Interswitch was established to address a societal issue. We discovered a way to achieve this by creating goods and services with the customer at the center, while also setting the pace for innovation and technology. In the same way that countless explorers have done, there were occasions when we forded unknown seas with no guarantees, buoyed only by our perseverance and fortitude. In those trying times, our vision of a flourishing Africa propelled by frictionless trade and value exchange kept us motivated.

Elegbe continued by saying that the aforementioned served as the basis for the development of Interswitch’s two flagship products, Quickteller and Verve. These products were born from the company’s overarching mission to solve problems and were focused on providing individuals with comprehensive solutions for making daily payments, to connect and simplify the lives of its customers across the continent.

Cherry Eromosele, the company’s executive vice president for group marketing and communications, summarized the essence of Interswitch’s new “Never Stop” campaign by saying that “anniversaries not only give the chance to celebrate how far we’ve come in our journey, but also provide the opportunity to stop, reflect, and launch out again with fresh passion, a renewed zeal, and a clearer vision. This is the underlying principle of the #NeverStop movement. We see tremendous opportunity for future development and the advancement of our vision as we move to the future. The outlook is rapidly changing; at Interswitch, we believe that the use of digital payments is independent of industry, and that as technology and digital payments are more used throughout Nigeria and Africa, new chances to enlarge the fintech/payments landscape will arise.

The company plans to gradually introduce a lineup of marketing ads, commemorative events, and thought-leadership initiatives based around this important corporate milestone on a Pan-African level over the course of the next six months.

Leading technology-driven business Interswitch is devoted to the digitization of payments in Nigeria and other African nations. Interswitch, a company founded in 2002, upended Nigeria’s traditional cash-based payments value chain by promoting the adoption of electronic payments processing and switching services.

Interswitch is a key actor in the modern financial ecosystem of Africa, engaged throughout the payments value chain, and offering a comprehensive range of omni-channel payment solutions. Interswitch’s mission is to develop technology solutions that connect and empower people, businesses, and communities. Its vision is a prosperous Africa powered by seamless value and commerce exchange. The powerful payments platform and extensive network of Interswitch have contributed significantly to the growth of the Nigerian payments ecosystem and give Interswitch the foundation it needs to spread throughout Africa.

With solutions and services that are secure, convenient, and offer real value for consumers, as well as improving operational efficiency and fostering sustainable revenue growth for businesses, Interswitch continues to develop and facilitate technology solutions and platforms that support a variety of industry ecosystems that aid in the evolution of commerce, the growth of businesses, and the prosperity of individuals.