What is the difference between Verve and AfriGO?
Both are domestic card schemes. Verve is owned by Interswitch and has issued 100 million cards, while AfriGO was launched by the CBN and NIBSS in 2023 and counted over one million cards by September 2025.
In detail
Both are domestic card schemes in Nigeria, but they differ in age, ownership and scale.
Verve
Verve is run by Interswitch and is the incumbent. It announced 100 million cards issued across Africa in December 2025. Verve cards now also work on international platforms such as Netflix and Uber.
AfriGO
AfriGO is the national domestic card launched by the Central Bank of Nigeria and NIBSS in January 2023. It has grown more slowly: NIBSS reports over one million cards and more than N70 billion in transactions by September 2025, with 25 issuing banks and fintech partners such as Moniepoint and PalmPay.
Where cards fit
Visa and Mastercard cover the rest of the market, mostly on dual-purpose and international cards. Cards are used above all at POS terminals and ATMs. Online, they lose ground to bank transfers but remain the default for subscriptions and foreign merchants.
What it means for payment operators
For operators serving Nigerian merchants, routing domestic schemes locally helps keep approval rates and costs under control. An acquirer that supports Verve and AfriGO next to Visa and Mastercard, combined with routing rules by card scheme, lets each payment take the most suitable route.