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Verve International, one of the leading African payment card brands, has announced its official entry into the Kenya market at a launch in Nairobi. The launch of the Kenya operation will extend the Verve network into Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, South Sudan and Rwanda and integration into existing operations in Uganda.

Charles Ifedi, Verve International CEO with Richard Coate Verve Country Manager (Kenya) hold a lifesize Verve card. Verve International has launched the Verve card in the Kenya market

It also announced a strategic partnership with Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) to expand card acceptance and payment services in six key East African markets.

Verve, which is also one of the biggest payment card brands in Nigeria, with more than 30 million payment tokens, is rapidly expanding issuance and acceptance across the African continent and is now issued by over 40 banks in Africa. In 2013, the company signed a partnership agreement with Discover Financial Services (DFS), the owners of Diner's Club, which will give Verve cardholders access to the Discover global network of over 185 countries and territories across the world.

Charles Ifedi, CEO, Verve International, said, "East and West Africa are host to some of the fastest growing economies on the continent. We are also seeing rapidly expanding trade flows between the two regions and with that, increased travel.

"Expansion of Verve acceptance across Africa and around the world is part of the long-term strategic vision for our business. It will also foster closer business partnerships between East and West Africa and improve the ease of doing business on the continent, thereby encouraging even stronger growth."