In collaboration with Verve, PalmPay, a Nigerian fintech company with over 35 million users, introduced its first debit card on Thursday, marking a significant milestone in its transition from a mobile wallet to a comprehensive online financial platform.
The move aligns with a growing trend among Nigerian fintech companies to embrace local card programs, as international providers like Visa and MasterCard become less appealing due to rising costs and declining foreign spending.
The debit card was introduced three weeks after PalmPay and AfriGo, Nigeria’s national domestic card program, partnered to distribute 5 million contactless payments throughout the country. Now, it is integrating Verve-powered debit cards directly into its digital wallet.
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Debit cards to be distributed through PalmPay’s agents
According to the company, the cards will be distributed by its nationwide network of more than a million agents. By the end of the year, the company expects to onboard millions of cardholders, leveraging its extensive reach.
There are two types of PalmPay debit cards: a basic version that is accessible to all users and a premium version tied to a brand-new membership program.
Users must transact a minimum of N500,000 per month and maintain a monthly balance of at least N20,000 to upgrade to premium status. Premium members enjoy higher cashback rewards, merchant discounts, and up to 36 per cent annual savings interest, compared to 20 per cent for regular users.
According to Sofia Zab, Palmpay’s chief marketing officer, the company has spent years concentrating on developing backend infrastructure, user trust, and scale.
“There are third-party APIs that let you spin up prepaid cards quickly, but we took a more deliberate route,” she said. “We formed a direct partnership with Verve so we could design a product that truly fits the needs of Nigerian consumers.”
Growing adoption of verve debit cards by Nigerian fintech firms
Due to decreased consumer spending and growing expenses for foreign card companies, Nigerian fintechs are increasingly collaborating with local card schemes, as evidenced by Palmpay’s debit card partnership.
Following the pandemic, Opay and Moniepoint both issued roughly 17 million Verve cards, forgoing global partners like Visa and Mastercard. Nine months after halting card operations, Carbon, a Nigerian digital bank renowned for its loan-led banking strategy, recently teamed up with Verve to start issuing debit cards again.
The launch of the debit card coincides with a shift towards bank transfers in a large portion of Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem. The future of HabariPay, a fintech division of one of the largest banks in Nigeria, is dependent on more transfers. With the promise of higher transfer volumes, Paystack also just released its first consumer app, Zap by Paystack.
According to PalmPay, a significant portion of Nigerian consumers still use cards, even with the rise in bank transfers.
“Not every user is a young, digital-first Lagosian. Some live in towns with limited phone access or want the flexibility to shop online,” Zab noted. “If we want to serve every Nigerian, we need to build for every Nigerian, and that includes access points such as our app and also our agents, USSD, and now cards.”
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Palmpay innovation drives
The goals of PalmPay go beyond just making payments. The business has quietly introduced an expanding range of banking services, such as credit (via a licensed partner), savings, and an insurance plan that was started in collaboration with Leadway and AXA Mansard. According to PalmPay, its insurance products have already been embraced by more than a million users.
“We are much more than a digital wallet or POS company,” Zab said. “We’re building a full financial ecosystem—one that works for every Nigerian, no matter where they are on their financial journey.”
To serve its expanding clientele, the fintech company also intends to open additional offices and experience centres across the country.
PalmPay’s wager on cards indicates that fintech firms acknowledge the value of traditional banking tools in their struggle to reinvent banking in Africa’s most populous economy.
