Interswitch, a Nigerian digital payments company that is Africa’s second unicorn, has raised $110 million to help it expand. The strategic investment came from LeapFrog Investment and Tana Africa Capital, which will work with Interswitch to advance the payment ecosystem across the continent. Interswitch provides electronic payments processing and switching services through its brands Verve, a debit card offering, and Quickteller, a multichannel consumer and business payments platform. The evolution of FinTech in Nigeria and the broader sub-Saharan region has been driven by the need to solve challenges and barriers that exist within the traditional financial system. Interswitch reached unicorn status — meaning its valuation topped $1 billion — in 2019, following a $200 million investment from Visa that gave that company a 20% stake in the Nigerian firm.
Interswitch seems to be working to turn things around with tools like the Quickteller platform, which gives users access to a network of banking agents — often referred to as “human ATMs” — across all 36 states in Nigeria, offering bill payments, airtime recharge, funds transfer and remittance services to customers. The agency banking model, which is widely popular throughout the West African nation, has played a crucial role in promoting financial inclusion, transforming the lives of these agents by driving up retail store foot traffic and driving a positive impact on their income and bottom lines.