Kenswitch and Visa have partnered to help advance payment innovation and strengthen the country’s domestic processing and settlement ecosystem.
The partnership brings together Kenswitch’s national payments infrastructure and Visa’s global expertise in digital payments to support financial institutions, merchants, businesses and consumers across Kenya.
The two organisations plan to explore opportunities in payment innovation and merchant acceptance, including collaboration around Visa’s Value-Added Services. These services are designed to help financial institutions, fintechs, and businesses enhance payment security, prevent fraud, expand digital acceptance and leverage data for growth and efficiency.
The collaboration will also focus on modernising payment processing, card services, and settlement infrastructure in line with the Central Bank of Kenya’s National Payments Strategy.
Kenswitch CEO John Mukono described the agreement as a key milestone in the company’s efforts to modernise Kenya’s payments landscape. He noted that Kenswitch has spent over two decades building interoperable payment systems, connecting more than 29 financial institutions and processing millions of transactions annually across ATM, point-of-sale, and agency banking networks.
“By aligning with Visa’s global capabilities, we can co-create next-generation processing and settlement infrastructure that benefits every participant in Kenya’s financial ecosystem,” he said.
“We are pleased to collaborate with Kenswitch, which has played a foundational role in Kenya’s payments landscape,” said Chad Pollock, Vice President and General Manager, Visa East Africa. “Through this framework agreement, we aim to combine Visa’s global innovation capabilities with Kenswitch’s domestic infrastructure to support safer, more efficient payment experiences and strengthen acceptance, processing, and settlement across Kenya.”
The two firms also plan to jointly explore and pilot emerging payment technologies, particularly in merchant payments, while strengthening the resilience and efficiency of Kenya’s clearing and settlement processes.
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