Interswitch Jumps Into Africa’s Banking Tech Race With Temenos Deal

In an effort to further its drive into banking technology, Interswitch, one of Africa’s top integrated payments providers and also one of the leading pan-African digital payments and commerce companies, enabling secure, reliable transactions across multiple African markets, has teamed up with Temenos, a banking software company based in Geneva, to deliver managed banking services to financial institutions around the continent. 

Through the cooperation, Interswitch will be able to offer cloud-hosted and on-premises managed services to lenders throughout the continent by implementing Temenos’ banking technology in core banking, digital banking, payments, wealth management, and financial crime management.

For Interswitch, this strategic relationship represents a significant change in operations. Beyond its conventional digital payment and processing infrastructure, the fintech leader is expanding into full-scale, managed core banking services throughout the continent.

At a time when lenders on the continent are modernizing outdated technology systems, the purchase reflects Interswitch’s aspirations to expand as a financial technology supplier and increase its portion of banks’ technology spending.  In 2024, six Nigerian banks upgraded their main banking systems and invested ₦268.7 billion (about $171.5 million) in IT infrastructure.

Through a statement released on Thursday, Jonah Adams, managing director for Digital Infrastructure and Managed Services at Interswitch, stated that it is a pivotal moment for Interswitch as we accelerate our expansion beyond payments and reimagine digital banking for Africa.

The strategic partnership between Interswitch and Temenos includes several key details.

First, regarding service scope, Interswitch will integrate the Temenos Software Suite. This suite covers core banking, digital onboarding, wealth management, payment systems, and financial crime management modules.

Second, for deployment options, financial institutions can leverage these services through cloud-hosted or on-premises managed systems infrastructure.

Third, the target markets for initial deployment are major commercial hubs. These include Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, and other African markets that would be the service’s primary targets. The companies have plans to scale regionally beyond these countries.

Finally, the partnership supports mutual growth for both companies. Interswitch will utilize its network of over 300 financial institutions across 32 countries to scale the offering. At the same time, Temenos re-establishes a firmer foothold in West Africa. This follows the company’s 2024 client loss when Nigeria’s Sterling Bank migrated away to a custom core system.

Interswitch is establishing itself as a technology partner that can assist banks in upgrading vital systems without having to handle the complexities of large-scale technology deployments by merging Temenos’ software with its current presence throughout the continent.

Global market research firm Mordor Intelligence projects that the Middle East and Africa’s banking-as-a-service industry would grow to $27.10 billion by 2026.

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

Since its founding in 2002, Interswitch has grown to become one of the biggest payment businesses in Africa thanks to products like Quickteller and Verve, a domestic card program that issued more than 100 million cards in December 2025.

The partnership directly places Interswitch in competition with traditional IT infrastructure giants. Also, the decision to provide managed banking services puts it in competition with firms like CWG Plc, which distributes the Finacle core banking application to leading Nigerian banks like First Bank and GTBank through a relationship with the Indian multinational financial corporation Infosys. 

Through a partner with extensive connections throughout the banking industry, Temenos’s foothold in Africa is strengthened by the deal. Sterling Bank, a tier-2 Nigerian bank, lost business with it in 2024 after switching to SEABaaS, a brand-new, specially designed core banking application.

William Moroney, Temenos’ chief revenue officer, stated that Interswitch is a significant new client and partner in Africa. “Interswitch’s robust presence throughout the continent also expands our reach and fortifies our partner network and ecosystem.”