Verve plans phone tap-to-pay and AI agent payments, CEO says
Verve plans to let customers pay by tapping their phones and, eventually, to let AI assistants make payments on their behalf.
Nigeria's largest card scheme, Verve, plans to introduce phone tap-to-pay and AI agent payments, according to its CEO Vincent Ogbunude. Addressing the Big Tech and Enterprise Stage at Moonshot by TechCabal on October 29, Ogbunude described these initiatives as the next step in eliminating payment friction. He emphasized that each additional step in the payment process, such as typing an account number or retrying a failed transaction, incurs additional costs.
These plans build upon Verve's efforts from last year, which included reaching 100 million cards and transitioning into contactless payments and tokenisation, which converts card details into a one-time code. Currently, Verve has 130 million cards registered. Ogbunude explained that tap-to-pay on smartphones would enable customers to make payments using their existing devices without needing a physical card.
Moreover, AI-driven agent payments would take this a step further, allowing an AI assistant, acting on a customer's instructions, to discover and finalize a purchase without the customer needing to manage each step. This approach is similar to the strategies adopted by global card networks like Visa and Mastercard, which announced plans in 2025 to enable AI agents to make payments on behalf of cardholders.
Verve is controlled by Interswitch, a prominent Nigerian payments company. Ogbunude highlighted Interswitch's evolution as a series of efforts to address payment friction, starting from customers needing to visit their bank's branch to withdraw cash, transitioning to using cards at any bank's ATM, and eventually developing Quickteller, POS terminals, and Verve.
Verve's scale is substantial, with the NIBSS Instant Payment system handling approximately 11.2 billion transactions worth ₦1.07 quadrillion in 2024, the latest full-year data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System. If successful, Verve's initiatives could fundamentally change the perception of Nigerian payments, shifting the focus from the number of cardholders to the minimal number of steps required to complete a transaction.
In a market where most transactions are now made through transfers, the bigger challenge will be whether customers and banks will have confidence in software systems to handle their financial transactions.
Written by urgent.news from TechCabal's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
