“Can a CBN-licensed processor become Africa's default card issuing, switching, and disbursement infrastructure for banks and governments?”
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Lekki, Lagos, ARCA is a Nigerian payments infrastructure company licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It provides card issuing/processing (Visa & Mastercard), POS terminal management, agency banking, ACH account-to-account switching, e-commerce acquiring and QR/NFC processing to banks, corporates, and government agencies. The company has expanded via a UK entity (2020) and workforce across Nigeria, UK, Portugal, Canada, and the US.
ARCA Payments Company LTD. processes payments through Arca Pay (self-operated), Arca Switch (self-operated), Arca CMS (self-operated), Arca TMS (self-operated) and Arca Collections (self-operated). Disclosed money-movement rails: ACH and UPI.
ARCA Payments Company LTD.'s cards are issued through Arca Switch & CMS (in-house) on the Visa and Mastercard networks.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 4 layers in ARCA Payments Company LTD.'s stack: Payments / PSP (Arca Pay (self-operated), Arca Switch (self-operated), Arca CMS (self-operated), Arca TMS (self-operated) and 1 other); Money movement (ACH and UPI); Card issuing (Arca Switch & CMS (in-house)); Card network (Visa and Mastercard).
ARCA Payments Company LTD. is founded in 2016 and headquartered in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria.
Get a read on where your own stack stands against ARCA Payments Company LTD. and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.