Interswitch Partners Temenos to Expand Managed Banking Services Across Africa
Digitnomics 
By Francisca Anuforo,
Interswitch, one of Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce companies, has partnered with Switzerland-based banking software provider Temenos to offer managed banking services to financial institutions across Africa, marking a significant expansion beyond its traditional payments business.
The partnership will see Interswitch deploy Temenos’ banking technology across core banking, digital banking, payments, wealth management, and financial crime management solutions, enabling the company to deliver both cloud-hosted and on-premises managed services to banks across the continent.
The move signals Interswitch’s growing ambition to become a broader banking technology provider at a time when African lenders are accelerating investments in digital transformation and core banking modernization.
“This is a pivotal moment for Interswitch as we accelerate our expansion beyond payments and reimagine digital banking for Africa,” Jonah Adams, Managing Director, Digital Infrastructure and Managed Services at Interswitch, said in a statement.
The service will initially target financial institutions in Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and other African markets.
Expanding Beyond Payments
Founded in 2002, Interswitch built its reputation as one of Africa’s largest payments companies through products such as Quickteller and Verve, its domestic card scheme, which surpassed 100 million payment cards issued in December 2025.
The latest partnership represents a strategic effort to diversify revenue streams beyond payments processing and capture a larger share of banks’ technology spending.
African banks are increasingly modernizing aging technology infrastructure to improve operational efficiency, customer experience, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance.
The opportunity is substantial. Six Nigerian banks spent a combined ₦268.7 billion ($171.5 million) on IT infrastructure upgrades in 2024, including investments in core banking systems and digital transformation initiatives.
By combining Temenos’ banking software with its extensive infrastructure footprint and relationships across Africa’s financial sector, Interswitch is positioning itself as a technology partner capable of helping banks modernize critical systems without the complexity of managing large-scale technology deployments internally.
A Growing Banking-as-a-Service Opportunity
The partnership comes amid rapid growth in the banking-as-a-service (BaaS) market across emerging economies.
According to market research firm Mordor Intelligence, the Middle East and Africa banking-as-a-service market is projected to reach $27.1 billion in 2026, driven by increasing demand for digital banking solutions, cloud adoption, and embedded financial services.
“By adopting Temenos’ cloud-native, composable platform, Interswitch gains the flexibility and scalability to accelerate its next phase of growth and deliver banking services that meet the needs of African markets,” Adams said.
Temenos’ platform offers banks modular capabilities that can be deployed individually or as part of a broader transformation strategy, enabling institutions to modernize incrementally rather than replacing entire systems at once.
Competitive Landscape
The move places Interswitch in competition with established banking technology providers and systems integrators operating in Africa.
Among them is CWG Plc, which has partnered with Indian technology giant Infosys to distribute the Finacle core banking platform to several leading Nigerian banks, including First Bank and GTBank.
As banks continue investing heavily in digital transformation, competition among technology providers is expected to intensify, particularly in areas such as core banking modernization, cloud migration, payments infrastructure, and digital banking platforms.
Strategic Win for Temenos
For Temenos, the partnership strengthens its presence in Africa through a company that already has deep relationships with banks, fintechs, and financial institutions across multiple markets.
The deal comes as Temenos seeks to expand its footprint on the continent following increased competition from locally developed banking platforms.
One notable example is Sterling Bank, which migrated from Temenos in 2024 to SEABaaS, a custom-built core banking platform developed to support the bank’s digital transformation strategy.
“Interswitch is an important new customer and partner for Temenos in Africa,” said William Moroney, Chief Revenue Officer at Temenos.
“Interswitch’s strong presence across the continent also extends our reach and further strengthens our ecosystem and partner network.”
The Bigger Picture
The partnership highlights a broader shift taking place within Africa’s fintech ecosystem.
As payment processing becomes increasingly competitive, leading fintech firms are expanding into adjacent technology segments, including banking infrastructure, cloud services, enterprise software, and digital transformation solutions.
For Interswitch, the move represents more than a new service offering. It reflects a strategic effort to position itself as a critical technology partner to Africa’s banking sector as financial institutions continue their transition toward digital-first operations.
Whether the company can replicate its success in payments within the banking technology market remains to be seen, but the Temenos partnership provides a strong foundation for its next phase of growth.
