Nigerian digital payments company Interswitch has announced that it has received unicorn status after Visa obtained a minority equity stake in the firm.
According to Interswitch, “The latest investment will help the company to emerge as one of the most profitable African Fintech companies with a valuation of $1 billion”.“The organization presently gives a significant part of the funding to Nigeria’s web-based financial framework that serves Africa’s biggest economy and populace. Interswitch offers various individual and business account items, including its Verve Installment cards and Quickteller installment application” the company further disclosed.
From its home-base of Nigeria, Interswitch has extended its physical nearness to Uganda, Gambia, and Kenya. Interswitch sells its services in 23 African nations and introduced an association in August for its Verve cardholders to make payments on Discover’s worldwide system.
Established in 2002 by Nigerian business visionary Mitchell Elegbe, Interswitch likewise claims Verve — the biggest local platinum card scheme in Africa — and Quickteller, a customer payments stage that facilitates services of money transfers, bill payments, and mobile and internet air time purchases.
The monetary value of mobile money payments businesses in the region of sub – Saharan Africa grew at more than 15% CAGR from 2017 to 2018, according to the statistic released by the industry group GSMA, soon this industry will reach US$26.8 billion markets.
Interswitch has long been planning to issue an Initial Public Offering (IPO) to permit the original investors to own stakes in the company.
Interswitch additionally could be in a more grounded position to offer increasing capital legitimately to the mainland’s new Fintech companies by resuscitating its ePayment Growth Fund. The venture arm made two investments in 2015 but then went largely quiet.
