Premier Switch Solutions Secures Visa AVP Status, Unlocks International Markets

Premier Switch Solutions (PSS), an Ethiopian banking technology provider, has achieved a significant milestone by becoming the fourth company in East Africa to join the Visa Approved Vendor Program (AVP). 

The certification recognizes PSS to produce, personalize, provision, and manage payment cards on behalf of Visa-issuing banks and financial institutions, positioning the company to compete in both local and international markets.

PSS executives announced the achievement on Thursday at Nib International Bank headquarters, which also houses the newly upgraded card personalization center. According to Amaha Tadesse, CEO of PSS, the certification is the result of a two-year development project and an investment of over 60 million Birr, reflecting both the financial and operational commitment needed to meet Visa’s global standards.

“This milestone enables us to serve financial institutions beyond Ethiopia,” Amaha told Shega. “Local banks have been anticipating this capability, and now we can offer services that meet world-class requirements.”

The AVP status reflects rigorous compliance Payment Card Industry Card Production and Provisioning (PCI CPP). These standards, launched nearly two decades ago, require that any organization storing, processing, or transmitting Visa cardholder data meet stringent security protocols. Compliance is essential for financial institutions, merchants, and third-party service providers to safeguard customer data and maintain trust across global payment ecosystems.

Since 2012, PSS has personalized and delivered over 8.1 million payment cards (around 675,000 cards per year) for Ethiopian banks. With the AVP acknowledgment and the required upgrades, the company is now positioned to issue up to 7 million cards per year, offering same-day delivery for local issuers. 

Yared Endale, Visa’s Cluster Head for Eastern Africa and Country Manager for Ethiopia, highlighted the strategic importance of building local capacity for secure, high-quality payment card services.

“Data security and personal data protection are not optional,” Yared said. “By enabling Ethiopian institutions to provide services at par with global standards, we strengthen the regional payment ecosystem. We believe in investing in ecosystems.”

PSS was established in 2009 by a consortium of six private commercial banks and was already the first company in Ethiopia to achieve Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) compliance. Yet the Visa certification required additional upgrades to security protocols, internal processes, and data management infrastructure, ensuring that the company could handle sensitive financial data in line with international requirements. PSS earned a little over 123 million Birr in gross profits in the last financial year.