Interswitch and eMaisha Pay Partner on Uganda Agro Payments

In Short

• Interswitch and eMaisha Pay have partnered to digitise payments in Uganda’s agricultural value chain.
• The setup uses smart POS devices (card payment terminals) and an eMaisha Verve Card.
• The goal is to reduce cash handling, improve security, and widen access to credit and savings tools.

What Happened

Interswitch is partnering with eMaisha pay to digitise payments across Uganda’s agricultural value chain. That includes smallholder farmers, agro-input wholesalers, field agents, and retailers.

According to the announcement, Interswitch is rolling out smart devices that allow wholesaler field agents to accept card payments from retailers using the eMaisha Verve Card. Verve is a card scheme, similar to Visa or Mastercard, that lets users pay electronically in stores and at terminals.

Wholesalers of agricultural inputs and retail businesses can also receive payments from the eMaisha Verve Card via point-of-sale terminals. This is meant to streamline collections and reduce risks like theft that come with moving cash.

The partnership also ties credit to transaction flows. Retailers who need working capital can access credit through the eMaisha app, then have the funds placed on their eMaisha Verve Card. For smallholder farmers, the card is positioned as a way to access credit for inputs and to build a transaction history, which can help with future credit assessments.

Why It Matters

Agriculture employs a large share of Uganda’s workforce, and many participants still rely on cash. Digitising payments can reduce leakage, improve record keeping, and make it easier to offer financial products like savings and loans.

It can also help lenders make better decisions. When farmers and merchants pay digitally, they create data trails (basic records of sales and payments) that can be used to estimate ability to repay.

For fintech and payments operators, agricultural value chains are also a distribution channel. If field agents and input sellers adopt POS terminals and cards, digital payments can spread through everyday trade, not just urban retail.