Kenswitch, a Kenyan payments infrastructure provider, has struck a partnership with Visa that could reshape the battle for control of Kenya’s next-generation payments systems, as banks, telecom operators, and foreign players jostle to anchor the country’s planned national switch.
The framework agreement, announced on Thursday, comes as regulators push to unify fragmented payment systems into a real-time, interoperable network, a move that would determine how billions of shillings flow across banks, mobile wallets, and merchants each day.
The deal brings together Kenswitch’s role as a shared national switch—connecting more than 30 financial institutions—with Visa’s global payments technology. Together, the companies plan to develop new products for banks, fintechs, and merchants, while improving the infrastructure that clears and settles transactions within Kenya.
“This collaboration with Visa is a significant milestone in our journey to deepen and modernize Kenya’s payment ecosystem,” Kenswitch CEO John Mukono said. “By aligning with Visa’s global capabilities, we can now co-create value-added solutions and next-generation processing and settlement infrastructure that will benefit every participant in Kenya’s financial ecosystem from major banks, saccos, and fintechs to merchants and everyday Kenyans.”
