Access Bank Unveils SwiftPay, Interswitch Launches Multi-currency Prepaid Card

Everyone wants to play in the digital space, and Access Bank will not like to be left behind. Yes, Africa’s largest bank by customer base has unveiled Swiftpay, a digital payment for SMEs. 

Ladies and gentlemen, It gives me great pleasure to announce SWIFTPAY… by Access Bank. A payment acceptance service that we have introduced to support the transition and growth of our business customers.

SWIFTPAY is just a payment link that when hosted on your social media page, you can send to anyone to pay you. It is easy – less than 5 minutes to sign up, convenient, straight through and time savings for everyone. It takes less than 5 minutes to sign up. (from the Bank)

Meanwhile,  Interswitch Group, 20% owned by Visa, has partnered with Kenya’s Credit Bank Plc to launch a multi-currency prepaid card. The card, is aimed at providing consumers with an excellent alternative banking card that allows for safe, secure, and seamless electronic transactions.

Romana Rajput, Country General Manager, Interswitch Kenya, stated at the launch that the partnership is a boost to Interswitch’s issuing business, adding that it is further proof of the company’s leadership position in the financial services industry on the continent. “This is definitely a boost to Interswitch’s issuer-support & third-party processing business. We have been around for a while and we intend to keep entrenching digital payments in East Africa and across Africa as a whole. Now, customers will have access to the prepaid cards without necessarily having a bank account. The card can be funded through mobile money and it is widely accepted by merchants for payments and at the ATMs for withdrawals,” Rajput said.

Mr. Jack Ngare, Credit Bank Director, noted that the product is aimed at increasing financial freedom for the banked, unbanked, and under-banked. “It is our aim to provide our customers with the control and confidence they need to manage their money smartly. Membership of the Visa network will allow the cardholders to use it worldwide for payments and withdrawals, and to transact safely online and at ATMs,” Ngare said. (from press release)

The digital playbook is the future, and everyone is looking for a space on that checkout page. You must pay attention to this redesign. Yes, a learner paid us $140 via Bitcoin two days ago for Tekedia Mini-MBA. After fees, the processor left $138.xx in the wallet. But within 24 hours, that $138.xx has moved to $156. Simply, Bitcoin went up and that receipt followed. 

People, the digital world has so many unknowns, and this decade would be super-amazing. How can somebody pay you “money” that “appreciates and depreciates” at scale? I have done some modelling here; I will give anyone paying with Bitcoin a 10% discount for Tekedia programs. Bear and bull probability is working here. Click here for the product prices; apply the 10% discount, and checkout with the Coinpayment option.

Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA (Feb 10 - May 3, 2025), and join Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe and our global faculty; click here.