Kenswitch, Kenya’s largest independent payments switch, has launched the Kenswitch Card, a domestic card scheme that will enable banks and other financial institutions to issue physical and virtual cards through its network.
The new scheme was unveiled at Strathmore University, where Kenswitch demonstrated a digital card issuance system developed in partnership with TAI FINTECH, a fintech innovation venture affiliated with the university, and Stanchion Payments, a global payments technology company.
The launch marks an expansion of Kenswitch’s role in Kenya’s payments ecosystem. While the company has traditionally focused on connecting financial institutions and routing payment transactions, the new card scheme allows it to support both card issuance and acceptance.
Through the Kenswitch Card, participating financial institutions will have another option for providing domestic card payment services, including physical and virtual cards.
The development adds another player to Kenya’s card payments market, which continues to operate alongside the country’s widely used mobile money ecosystem.
