Millions of Nigerians using Verve cards for everyday payments could face transaction disruptions after a coalition of payment processors, acquirers, and switches threatened to suspend the acceptance of Verve card transactions.
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The coalition, in a letter dated May 28, 2026 and addressed to the management of Verve International and Interswitch Limited, a copy of which was seen by Nairametrics, accused the companies of multiple regulatory and competition-related breaches.
They warned that unless urgent undertakings are provided within two days, they will halt acquiring and acceptance of Verve card transactions.
The coalition is made up of several Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-licensed operators. If carried out, the move could affect merchants, businesses, POS operators, fintech platforms, and millions of cardholders who rely on Verve cards for payments across Nigeria.
In response, senior sources at Interswitch, owners of Verve, accuse the coalition of mind games, accusing them of bypassing networks, thus increasing the risk of fraud.
What they are saying
The coalition itself acknowledged the possible consequences of the planned action but blamed the situation on what it described as persistent non-compliance by Verve and Interswitch.
- “This action is neither voluntary nor desirable,” the group stated in the letter, adding that the companies would bear responsibility for any resulting inconvenience suffered by merchants, cardholders, or other stakeholders.
At the centre of the conflict is a Verve policy titled “Transaction Routing Integrity and Prohibition of Network Bypass,” which the coalition claims reinforces exclusive transaction routing arrangements through Interswitch.
The processors alleged that Verve and Interswitch have maintained switching exclusivity arrangements for more than a decade despite regulatory expectations promoting interoperability and competition within Nigeria’s electronic payment ecosystem.
- “For over 10 years, you have continued to perpetuate switching exclusivity arrangements between your companies, notwithstanding regulatory expectations to the contrary,” they stated in the letter.
They further accused the companies of abusing a dominant market position and imposing scheme fees that allegedly exceed limits permitted under existing CBN regulations.
- “The scheme fees charged by all other payment or card schemes in Nigeria comply with CBN regulations, i.e. a fraction of 7.5% of 0.5% of transaction value, capped at N75 per transaction. Verve’s restructured acquirer scheme fee (0.1000620 + N5 flat fee, uncapped), introduced on April 1, 2025 demonstrably exceeds acquirers’ regulated MSC earnings at all transaction values,” they said.
The coalition also alleged that unauthorised deductions were being made from settlement accounts belonging to acquirers, issuers, processors, and switches.
According to the letter, the continued arrangement exposes participating institutions to “capital erosion, operational concentration risk and potential regulatory liability.”
Operators demand immediate changes
Among several demands, the coalition asked Verve and Interswitch to immediately withdraw the transaction routing policy and discontinue all forms of routing, switching, and processing exclusivity.
The group also requested a halt to alleged unauthorised deductions, refunds for affected parties, and a commitment that transaction processing services would be transparently invoiced rather than deducted directly from settlement accounts.
In addition, the processors demanded assurances that issuers and acquirers would not be compelled to process or switch Verve transactions through Interswitch.
The coalition argued that global card schemes such as Visa and Mastercard do not impose mandatory routing structures that force transactions through a single operator.
- “Should the requested undertakings not be provided within the stipulated timeframe, our companies will, with regret and despite our preference to avoid any interruption to payment services, be compelled to proceed with the planned suspension,” the coalition warned in the letter.
Verve owned by Interswitch, is yet to issue an official statement. However, Nairametrics reached out to senior sources in the group who provided context.
Interswitch reacts
A very senior source from Interswitch defended the actions of the company, noting that the new rules introduced by the company were to guard against what he described as shady deals by the payment processors.
Specifically, the source said some of the processors were discovered to be bypassing its network to allow some fraudulent transactions that cannot be traced.
- “This thing has been on for many years. They go to CBN to complain, we have meetings, we explain, and it dies down.
- “Now, this has come up again because these guys are now allowing fraud that we can’t trace where it’s coming from, only to discover that these guys have bypassed. Now, bypassing is wrong because you are trying to jeopardize the scheme.
- “So, for the first time, we are trying to do something about it and we are telling them, you guys have been violating the rules of the scheme. We cannot continue like this, so we are going to start applying penalties.
- “Because they are all guilty, they are all panicking. And they have come together and they are trying to threaten everybody,” the source said.
The source noted that the matter has already been escalated to the financial regulator, the CBN, which has now summoned all parties to a meeting.
What you should know
The development places renewed attention on competition, interoperability, and concentration risks within Nigeria’s fast-growing digital payments industry.
A prolonged dispute could test the resilience of the country’s electronic payment infrastructure at a time when Nigeria is aggressively pushing cashless transactions and digital financial inclusion.
While the CBN is already intervening, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission may also come under pressure to intervene if tensions escalate into widespread service disruptions.
