Interswitch has launched the NeverStop brand campaign to kick off its 20th anniversary. The payment platform has called for concerted efforts to bring the over 50% of Nigerians who are unbanked or underbanked out of the trenches. While celebrating the 20th anniversary of Interswitch in Lagos at the weekend, Fintech industry leaders met with the media.
The Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer, Mitchell Elegbe, who called for more strategies to bridge the financial inclusion gap in Nigeria, added that 85 percent of transactions in sub-Saharan Africa still occur in cash.
He said, “Today, technology is at the forefront of society and will continue to play a significant role in how we work and live. Nigeria is fast becoming the tech capital of Africa, with one of the fastest-growing tech markets in the world. Interswitch has always focused on the bigger picture, understanding that “going it alone” is not the answer, and that we do better by working together. Building a profitable, thriving business has been important, but in order to achieve our purpose of inspiring AgreatnessGreatness, we had to play our part in providing an enabling environment for the holistic ecosystem to thrive.”
According to the payment company, the NeverStop campaign project is positioned as a pioneering and integral enabler that has supported the growth and development of fintech and payments across Africa over the last 20 years.#
Also, Interswitch stated that the brand amplifies the brand’s progressive outlook as a frontier-driving company that keeps pushing boundaries and facilitating 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.
At the anniversary kick-off parley, Mitchell Elegbe said, “Today, as we flag off our celebrations, there is quite a lot of excitement within Interswitch, but also some deep reflection as we look back on the journey of the last two decades of transforming Africa’s digital economy.”
Interswitch was founded to solve a social problem: to make people’s lives easier regarding payments, transactions, and access their funds. We saw a way to do this by developing products and services with the consumer at the heart, leading with technology and innovation. ”
As is the case with many pioneers, while we navigated uncharted waters, there were times when we pushed ahead with absolutely no assurances and were buoyed up by just sheer tenacity and grit. At those times, the big picture kept us going; our dream to deliver a prosperous Africa, driven by a seamless exchange of value and commerce.”
Elegbe said that the above was the basis on which Interswitch’s two flagship products, Quickteller and Verve, were built. These products were born out of the company’s overall mission to solve problems and were designed to help people make everyday payments and connect and simplify their lives across the continent.
Interswitch Planned Projects
Without divulging too many details, Interswitch’s CEO disclosed plans for an underway project, which would be announced at a future date. Elegbe said that Jonah Adams would be in charge of this project, which involved providing cybersecurity services to other fintechs.
Therefore, Adams stated that they embarked on the project to tackle fraud and that the public should expect a third-generation security as a service tool.
Interswitch has also made an academy to train people and prepare for the shortage of talent that is getting worse because so many talented people are leaving the country. He believes the academy will also provide general talents for the fintech industry.
Amidst the wave of ongoing layoffs in the global tech ecosystem, Interswitch wants to rehire its former employees through an initiative tagged “Back to Switch.”
According to the fintech company, Back to Switch is a “recruitment campaign designed to rehire and, essentially, the capacity to motivate,” Mitchell Elegbe said.
The fintech company is currently holding a series of activities for its 20th anniversary. Interswitch recently launched a self-service API platform and a 5% referral scheme for Quickteller Business users.
Over the next six months, the company intends to progressively unveil a line-up of brand campaigns, commemorative events, and thought-leadership initiatives centred around this significant corporate milestone on a pan-African level.