Driving Innovation: Interswitch, ACI’s Approach to Transforming Payment Industry
Santhosh Rao
In Africa’s digital payment landscape, strategic partnerships are crucial for driving innovation and fostering growth. According to the 2024 Prime Time for Real-Time report published by ACI in partnership with GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, active collaboration is a key driver of a thriving real-time payment ecosystem. Financial institutions, payment service providers, central banks and government institutions, merchants, and third-party stakeholders must work together to build and operate successful real-time payment ecosystems.
These partnerships between fintech and other financial institutions are bridging gaps, bringing digital payments to underserved communities, boosting financial inclusion, and fueling economic growth in Africa. Africa recorded 8.2 billion real-time payment transactions in 2023, projected to hit 21.7 billion by 2028, a 2023-2028 CAGR of 21.2 per cent.
One such partnership that has significantly transformed the payments ecosystem is the collaboration between one of Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce company, Interswitch, and ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a global leader in mission-critical, real-time payments software.
Over the past 20 years, this alliance has evolved to redefine industry standards and empower businesses across Africa to thrive with cutting-edge payment solutions.
Since its inception, the Interswitch and ACI partnership has been characterized by a shared commitment to promoting excellence, with focus on delivering unparalleled value to customers. Together, they have leveraged their respective strengths to introduce innovative payment products and services that cater to the evolving needs of businesses and costumers alike.
Among the array of solutions developed by ACI and driven by Interswitch are single-issuing platforms for all payment types, digital payment acceptance for acquirers, enterprise payments platforms, secure omnichannel payment processing platforms, cloud-based digital business banking, real-time enterprise fraud management, and open banking, among others.
The solutions—targeted at banks, microfinance banks, fintechs, and other financial institutions—are designed to solve critical challenges, such as protecting customers against digital payment fraud, providing effective value financing tools for lenders, seamless integration to payment channels, enhancing customer experience, and enabling financial institutions to rapidly integrate with newer payment channels with intuitive technologies.
Beyond developing world-class products, Interswitch and ACI have consistently organized engagement sessions to share the latest technology innovations in the payment space, shared industry insights and trends, encouraged collaboration, and reviewed regulatory frameworks to drive the payment ecosystem.
These efforts not only demonstrate their commitment to driving innovation and supporting businesses, but also underscore their dedication to the advancement and penetration of digital payments in Africa.
Africa had the highest share of real-time electronic payments in 2023 at 40 per cent with Nigeria as the undisputed real-time payments leader in Africa. The country recorded 7.9 billion transactions in 2023 and real-time payments had an impressive 82.1 per cent share of all electronic payments in Nigeria in 2023, according to the 2024 Prime Time for Real-Time report. As Africa’s financial market grows, collaboration and innovation are vital for financial players to capture opportunities, address diverse needs, and maximise revenues.
Recently, Interswitch and ACI announced a significant milestone in their two-decade partnership, elevating Interswitch from a reseller to a strategic partner across multiple markets in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. This expanded partnership will allow Interswitch to integrate the complete suite of payment solutions from the ACI Enterprise Payments Platform into its technology stack, empowering Interswitch to offer new innovative products and services in Nigeria and 31 other markets in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The ACI Enterprise Payments Platform is an end-to-end payments hub solution that can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud, enabling banks to future-proof their payments infrastructure and intelligently orchestrate all payment types across consumer, merchant, and corporate payments. It encompasses all the capabilities of ACI Low and High-Value Real-Time Payments, ACI Issuing, ACI Acquiring, ATM and Self-Service Banking, and ACI’s best-in-class, artificial intelligence-powered ACI Fraud Management.
Interswitch and ACI are committed to driving digital transformation across the continent through the deployment of cutting-edge solutions and innovative infrastructures to drive growth and profitability.
The strategic partnership is not merely shaping the payment industry; it is spearheading a new era of possibilities for businesses and individuals across Africa and beyond. The visionary approach and relentless commitment of the partners in driving digital transformation are setting the stage for a future where seamless, inclusive digital payments, empower economies and transform lives across Africa.
Rao is the Senior Vice President, MEASA at ACI Worldwide
