Payment networks are an essential component of today’s financial industry. Verve and Mastercard are two of the most widely used payment platforms in Nigeria. These technological platforms enable the secure exchange of money between individuals, institutions, and other online commerce platforms.
What is the difference between a Verve card and a Mastercard?
These platforms do not provide debit or credit card services. Instead, they work with banks and other financial institutions to issue cards under their own brands. Here’s a breakdown of each card’s features, benefits, drawbacks, and unique selling points.
Verve card
Verve card is one of the products offered by Verve International, a Nigerian fintech firm owned by Interswitch Group. The card was originally intended to be an indigenous Nigerian product that could only be used in Nigeria.
Verve International then expanded into a few other African countries, including Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and the Gambia. Verve International partnered with Discover Financial Services in 2013.
This enabled Verve cards to be used in all POS terminals and ATMs across the Discover global network. The acquisition expanded Verve’s reach to more than 180 countries served by Discover Financial Services.
Types of Verve cards
In today’s financial industry, there are three types of Verve cards.
Verve prepaid: These cards are made to provide you with the freedom to use them anywhere to make multiple types of payments without a physical bank account. The cardholder must preload the card with the necessary amount before using it at any Verve-accepting POS (point of sale).
Verve debit: The Verve Debit Card is the ideal tool for quickly and effortlessly making daily payments. This one is connected to your current or savings bank account, as opposed to the prepaid. Your bank account’s money is instantly accessible through the debit card, allowing for hassle-free usage.
Verve contactless: Users of Verve’s contactless cards can make rapid payments on the fly by tapping their cards at merchant locations that have the contactless emblem. At these sites, withdrawals can also be accomplished with just a tap.
Verve transaction limits
- ATM withdrawal every 24 hours: ?150,000
- POS spending every 24 hours: ?1 million
- Online spending every 24 hours: ?500,000
Verve card charges
- New card: N1,000
- Card replacement: N1,000
- Maintenance fee (monthly): N50
- Cash withdrawal on ATMs at an issuer’s bank branch: Free
- Purchases made on POS and local websites in Nigeria: Free
Mastercard
Mastercard is a multinational American financial services company with its main office in Purchase, New York.
Mastercard payment platform facilitates prepaid, debit, and credit cards with the Mastercard branding.
The card is accepted in Nigeria for ATM withdrawals, POS transactions, and online payments. A prepaid, debit, or credit Mastercard is available. This differed depending on the financial institution issuing it.
Mastercard charges in Nigeria
- Transaction limits ATM withdrawal every 24 hours (in Nigeria): N150,000
- POS spending every 24 hours (in Nigeria): N1 million
- Online spending every 24 hours (in Nigeria): N500,000
- International ATM withdrawal every 24 hours: $1,000
- International POS spending every 24 hours: $2,500
- International online spending every 24 hours: $6,250
- Mastercard charges in Nigeria
- These charges often vary from one issuer to another. Here are the average figures.
- New card: N1,000
- Card replacement: N1,000
- Maintenance fee (monthly): N50
- Cash withdrawal on ATMs at an issuer’s bank branch: Free
- Cash withdrawal abroad N1,200 + Acquirer fee Purchases made on POS and local websites in Nigeria: Free
- Purchases made on POS abroad and foreign websites: Free
Mastercard or Verve? Which is better?
Initially, the Verve card was vastly inferior to Mastercard. This was primarily because it could only be used in Nigeria and a few other African countries. The card is now accepted in over 180 countries. Mastercard, on the other hand, has a wider global reach and higher daily transaction limits (international), making it superior to Verve.
Disclaimer
The information in this article was curated from online sources. NewsWireNGR or its editorial team cannot independently verify all details.
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I have two accounts with two different banks and all are Verve Cards. I notice that Verve company do not reverse monies that decline with POS transactions. This is not fair at all . Personally, Union bank debited me #130, 000 since in the 31/12/2022 and till now, no reverse has been made despite filling out several forms at Union bank. Pls, A staff there told me its Verve that is with money. Pls. Kindly reverse my money. It is more than 3 months.