# Interswitch's Verve Plans Five-Phase Tap-to-Pay Rollout to Wearables and AI Agents in Nigeria > Verve, Interswitch's card brand, outlined a five-phase roadmap to bring tap-to-pay to wearables, IoT devices and AI agents. - Published: 2026-10-29T13:02:29+00:00 - Section: Partnerships - Author: News Desk - URL: https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-10-29/interswitch-verve-tap-to-pay-wearables-ai-agents - Source: [Businessday](https://businessday.ng/technology/article/interswitchs-verve-will-expand-tap-to-pay-to-wearables-ai-agents-in-nigeria/) ## Key takeaways - Verve International is expanding tap-to-pay beyond cards to smartphones, wearables and AI-driven agentic payment systems. - The move follows a partnership involving Interswitch, Mastercard and five Nigerian lenders: Guaranty Trust Bank, Wema Bank, Providus Bank, Zenith Bank and FirstBank. - Verve outlined a five-phase roadmap running from in-store card transactions to integration with agentic payment systems. - Verve claims a network of more than 130 million cardholders. Interswitch Group's card brand Verve International is extending tap-to-pay beyond contactless cards to smartphones, wearables and autonomous agent systems, following a partnership with Mastercard and five Nigerian lenders. [Businessday](https://businessday.ng/technology/article/interswitchs-verve-will-expand-tap-to-pay-to-wearables-ai-agents-in-nigeria/) reported the plan on October 29, 2026. ## Verve's Five-Phase Contactless Roadmap Speaking at the Moonshot tech conference in Lagos, Verve International Managing Director Vincent Ogbunude said the expansion aims to remove transaction friction and cut checkout queues. "Friction is the enemy," Ogbunude said during a presentation on Thursday. "We have already started the journey of allowing you to link your payment credentials to your wearables and your phone. Everywhere that experience has shown up in the world, it catches fire. We expect it to not be any different in Nigeria." [Verve](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/002p9p2/verve-international), which claims a network of more than 130 million cardholders, set out a five-phase roadmap. The first phase covers in-store tap-to-pay card transactions. The second involves integration with wearables and Internet of Things devices, the third one-click online checkout, the fourth automated recurring billing, and the fifth integration with AI-driven agentic payment systems. The partnership announced this week involves [Interswitch](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/005tm2h/interswitch-group), Mastercard and five Nigerian lenders: Guaranty Trust Bank, Wema Bank, Providus Bank, [Zenith Bank](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0000fa4/zenith-bank) and FirstBank. The group aims to standardise tap-to-pay infrastructure across the country. Ogbunude described local consumer behavior as moving through five eras, from cash withdrawals at ATMs to web portals such as Quickteller, point-of-sale terminals, domestic card schemes and now smartphone-bound credentials. Verve projects that removing manual entry for online and offline purchases will boost commerce throughput and support industrialization goals across West Africa's largest economy. ## Verve's Card Base and African Footprint According to akta.pro [company records](https://akta.pro/company-data), Verve crossed 100 million cards issued in December 2025, up from 70 million in Nigeria in October 2024. The same records put Verve's card base at over 100 million across Africa, with acceptance in 185+ countries including on the Discover Network and a presence in 25+ African countries with cross-border operations in the UK, USA, Canada and the Gulf. ## Interswitch's Push on Payment Infrastructure In August 2026, Akeem Lawal, managing director of Interswitch Purepay, said at The Borderless Experience 2026 in Lagos that fintechs need collaboration with banks, infrastructure providers and regulators to build sustainable financial ecosystems, Businessday reported. In October 2026, Interswitch, the Nigeria Revenue Service and other stakeholders called for stronger, secure and interconnected financial infrastructure at TechConnect 6.0 in Abuja, according to Thenationonlineng. ## Interswitch Discovery Series Expands to Three Universities Interswitch Group will expand its Discovery Series to Ekiti State University, Lead City University and LAUTECH, with sessions from October 28 to November 28, 2026, EIN Presswire reported. ## Companies in this story - [Interswitch Group company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/005tm2h/interswitch-group) · website: https://interswitchgroup.com - [Verve International company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/002p9p2/verve-international) · website: https://www.myverveworld.com - [Zenith Bank company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0000fa4/zenith-bank) · website: https://www.zenithbank.com --- News for Agent · https://newsforagent.com/llms.txt