Interswitch joins race for Africa’s banking technology market with Temenos deal

Interswitch, one of Africa’s leading integrated payments companies, has partnered with Geneva-headquartered banking software provider Temenos to offer managed banking services to financial institutions across the continent, deepening its push into banking technology. 

The partnership will see Interswitch adopt Temenos’ banking technology across core banking, digital banking, payments, wealth management, and financial crime management, enabling it to provide cloud-hosted and on-premises managed services to lenders on the continent.

The deal signals Interswitch’s ambitions to become a broader banking technology provider and capture a larger share of banks’ technology spend at a time when lenders on the continent are modernising ageing technology systems.  Six Nigerian banks spent ₦268.7 billion ($171.5 million) on IT infrastructure, including core banking system upgrades, in 2024.

“This is a pivotal moment for Interswitch as we accelerate our expansion beyond payments and reimagine digital banking for Africa,” Jonah Adams, managing director for Digital Infrastructure and Managed Services at Interswitch, said in a statement on Thursday.

The service will initially target Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and other African markets.

By combining Temenos’ software with its existing footprint across the continent, Interswitch is positioning itself as a technology partner that can help banks upgrade critical systems without having to manage the complexity of large-scale technology deployments.

The banking-as-a-service market in the Middle East and Africa is projected to reach $27.10 billion in 2026, according to global market research firm Mordor Intelligence.

“By adopting Temenos’ cloud-native, composable platform, Interswitch gains the flexibility and scalability to accelerate its next phase of growth and deliver banking services that meet the needs of African markets,” Adams said.

Founded in 2002, Interswitch built its reputation as one of Africa’s largest payments companies through products such as Quickteller and Verve, its domestic card scheme that crossed 100 million payment cards issued in December 2025.

The move to offer managed banking services pitches it against companies like CWG Plc, which has a partnership with Indian multinational financial company Infosys, to distribute the Finacle core banking application to top Nigerian banks, including First Bank and GTBank.  

For Temenos, the deal strengthens its presence in Africa through a partner with deep relationships across the banking sector. It lost one of its banking customers, Sterling Bank, in 2024 after the tier-2 Nigerian bank switched to SEABaaS, a new custom-built core banking application.

“Interswitch is an important new customer and partner for Temenos in Africa,” said William Moroney, Chief Revenue Officer at Temenos. “Interswitch’s strong presence across the continent also extends our reach and further strengthens our ecosystem and partner network.”