By: HighCelebritySquard

…Restates strong commitment to enabling Africa’s payment ecosystem.

Interswitch Group (‘Interswitch’ or ‘The Company’), one of Africa’s leading financial technology and integrated payments solution providers has announced receipt of a Payments Service Holding Company (PSHC) License issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This follows an earlier announcement by the CBN regarding new licensing categories for participants in the Nigerian Payments System.

By virtue of this development, which was formally communicated on Friday, January 13, 2023 by the apex bank, Interswitch essentially becomes one of the inaugural licensees by the CBN in this category. According to the regulator, the PSHC regulation requires companies with existing or prospective operations across multiple license categories to set up a payments service holding company (PSHC). The activities of each of the PSHC subsidiaries operating within those respective licensing regimes are clearly delineated, for clearer accountability, effective risk management and the enablement of better regulatory oversight by the CBN.

The statement from Interswitch also outlines that Interswitch’s Group Holding Company retains ownership of the PSHC in Nigeria as well as its other subsidiaries outside of Africa.

This recent development interestingly coincides with Interswitch’s 20th anniversary commemoration, which has seen the company cement its position as a pioneering and integral enabler that has actively supported the growth and development of fintech and payments progressively across Africa over the last 20 years. It also serves to reinforce Interswitch’s progressive outlook as a frontier-driving company which keeps pushing boundaries to facilitate the creation of new ecosystems that help businesses and individuals scale and thrive, in line with its purpose of inspiring Africa to greatness through innovation, value-creation and excellence.

Commenting on this development, Interswitch’s Founder and Group CEO, Mitchell Elegbe remarked that ‘Twenty years ago, we placed a bet on latent potential we saw in the introduction of e-payment channels at the time, particularly ATMs for the delivery of cash just-in-time, and today, we are gratified to see how far the financial technology and payment systems in Nigeria have grown. On the back of our receipt of this additional license, we remain strongly committed to close partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria to facilitate the delivery of the Payments Vision (2025) and of course, the National Financial Inclusion Strategy.

Elegbe further reiterates Interswitch’s resolute focus on its over-arching mission to continue championing technology solutions that connect and empower individuals, businesses, and communities across the continent.

Notes to Editors

Interswitch is a leading technology-driven company focused on the digitization of payments in Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Founded in 2002, Interswitch disrupted the traditional cash-based payments value chain in Nigeria by supporting the introduction of electronic payments processing and switching services. Today, Interswitch is a leading player with critical mass across Africa’s developing financial ecosystem and is active across the entire payments value chain, as well as key industry verticals such as education, healthcare, government & social services, transportation, utilities, and energy, to mention a few, providing a full suite of omni-channel payment solutions.

Interswitch’s vision is that of a prosperous Africa, driven by a seamless exchange of value and commerce and its mission is to create technology solutions that connect and empower individuals, businesses, and communities. Interswitch’s broad network and robust payments platform have been instrumental to the development of the Nigerian payments ecosystem and provide Interswitch with the infrastructure to expand across Africa, and the company was recently recognized by the African Banker as the African Fintech of the Year 2022 at the AfDB General Meetings in Accra.

Learn more about the company’s 20-year journey and key milestones at