Carrying a bank card to make everyday payments could become less necessary as Verve International plans to bring its payment technology directly to smartphones, wearable devices and eventually artificial intelligence-powered systems.
The payment brand, owned by Interswitch Group, is expanding its contactless payment plans to make transactions faster and reduce the need for physical cards.
Speaking at the Moonshot technology conference in Lagos on October 29, Verve International’s Managing Director, Vincent Ogbunude, said the company had already started working towards allowing customers to connect their payment credentials to smartphones and wearable devices.
The expansion follows a partnership involving Interswitch, Mastercard and five Nigerian banks: GTBank, Wema Bank, Providus Bank, Zenith Bank and FirstBank. The partnership aims to establish a more standardised tap-to-pay payment infrastructure across Nigeria.
Verve’s plan is built around five phases. The first focuses on contactless payments using physical cards at stores, while the second will extend the technology to wearable devices and other connected gadgets.
The third phase will introduce one-click online checkout, followed by automated recurring payments. The final stage will explore integration with AI-powered agentic payment systems, which could allow artificial intelligence assistants to carry out authorised transactions on behalf of users.
This means future payments could involve more than simply tapping a card or entering payment details. With the right technology and security measures, customers may eventually be able to authorise AI assistants to complete certain purchases for them.
Verve says its network has more than 130 million cardholders, giving the company an established customer base as it explores new ways to deliver digital payments.
However, the proposed expansion does not mean physical bank cards will disappear immediately. The rollout will depend on technology integration, participating banks, compatible devices and security arrangements.
As digital payments continue to evolve, Verve’s plans signal a growing shift towards a payment experience that relies less on physical cards and more on connected devices.