Exclusive: Disruption Looms in Financial Sector as Payment Firms Threaten to Suspend Verve Transactions

The Association of Point of Sale (POS) Service Providers, a coalition of payment firms, has threatened to suspend the acceptance, acquisition, processing and switching of Verve card transactions over “unlawful conduct” by Verve International and Interswitch Limited.

The threat is in protest of what the association described as illegitimate activities by both firms, according to a letter seen by TheCable and addressed to the managing directors of Interswitch and Verve.

The coalition is said to comprise several Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-licensed payment acceptors, acquirers, processors, and switches.

“Following the persistent unlawful decisions and activities of your companies that violate the extant rules and regulations of the Central Bank of Nigeria (“CBN”) and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018, we as representatives of a coalition comprising several Central Bank of Nigeria-licensed payment acceptors/acquirers, processors and switches to notify you of our collective intention to suspend acceptance/acquiring, processing and switching of Verve Card transactions,” the letter reads.

“This decision has become unavoidable due to the persistent and escalating unlawful conduct of Verve International (“Verve”) and Interswitch Limited (“Interswitch”), which jointly undermine the integrity of Nigeria’s payments ecosystem, erode the capital base of participating institutions and violate several regulatory requirements.”

The key breaches mentioned in the letter include the maintenance of an exclusive monopoly over Verve transaction processing and switching, abuse of dominant position in the domestic card scheme market, imposition of excessive scheme fees, and unauthorised debits from settlement accounts of industry operators.

The coalition alleged that Verve and Interswitch have sustained exclusivity arrangements for over a decade, despite regulatory expectations for interoperability and fair competition within Nigeria’s payments ecosystem.

The association said other card scheme operators have already abolished all forms of exclusivity arrangements in line with CBN regulations.

“This transition created a more competitive market structure and allowed multiple participants across the value chain to connect, process, acquire, and switch transactions without artificial restrictions,” the letter further reads.

The coalition also faulted Verve’s revised acquirer scheme fee introduced on April 1, 2025 — describing it as noncompliant with the CBN’s merchant service commission (MSC) framework.

“As responsible, law-abiding organizations, we can no longer continue to support or participate in the Verve ecosystem while these serious breaches persist,” the coalition said.

“The continued operation under the current framework exposes participating institutions to ongoing capital erosion, operational concentration risk and potential regulatory liability.”

VERVE, INTERSWITCH REQUIRED TO PROVIDE WRITTEN UNDERTAKINGS WITHIN TWO DAYS

The group demanded the immediate withdrawal of Verve’s ‘Transaction Routing Integrity and Prohibition of Network Bypass’ rules released on May 22, 2026.

It also sought the abolition of all exclusivity arrangements, cessation and refund of all unauthorised deductions.

“Immediate cessation of any demand or threat requiring Issuers or Acquirers to route transactions of Mastercard, Visa or any other payment or card scheme through Interswitch; and recalibration of Verve’s domestic scheme fees to a structure that is fully compliant with the CBN’s MSC framework,” the statement said.

The letter said Verve and Interswitch have two days to provide written undertakings addressing the concerns raised, warning that failure to do so would compel the coalition to go ahead with the planned suspension.

The coalition added that both companies would be held responsible for any disruption experienced by Verve cardholders and merchants as a result of the action.

Yomi Idowu, a communications consultant, warned that the action — if it pulls through — could cripple banking operations in the country if the CBN and the FCCPC fail to immediately intervene in the alleged exclusivity practice by Verve and Interswitch.