Paystack, Stripe-owned Nigerian fintech company, has officially entered Nigeria’s banking space following its acquisition of Ladder Microfinance Bank, marking a major expansion from payments into full-service financial offerings.
The company announced on Wednesday the launch of Paystack Microfinance Bank nearly ten years after it began operations in Nigeria.
Paystack said the new microfinance bank will operate as a separate entity from Paystack Payments Limited, with its own banking licence, governance structure, and product roadmap, while maintaining close collaboration with the core payments business.
The move comes barely a week after another major Nigerian fintech, Flutterwave, acquired open banking startup Mono, underscoring a growing trend among fintech firms to deepen their financial service capabilities beyond payments.
According to Paystack, the decision to enter banking is based on insights gained from serving more than 300,000 businesses and millions of consumers across Nigeria.
The company disclosed that its systems now process transactions worth trillions of naira every month, positioning it as a critical player in Nigeria’s financial ecosystem.
“Payments are a critical part of the financial journey, but not the whole story. Businesses don’t just need to get paid. They need a financial operating system,” Paystack said in a statement.
Beyond accepting payments, the company noted that businesses require tools to securely store money, move funds seamlessly, access actionable financial data, and scale with confidence. Individuals, it added, need financial products that help them protect, grow, and use their money as their needs evolve.
To meet these demands, Paystack said Paystack Microfinance Bank will focus on building banking products, while Paystack Payments Limited continues to concentrate on payment infrastructure.
Paystack said the new microfinance bank will be built on the same principles that guided its payments business—reliability, simplicity, and strong developer support.
A small group of early users has already been onboarded, with plans to gradually expand access to more businesses and individuals over time.
The acquisition of Ladder Microfinance Bank provides Paystack with a regulated platform to offer banking services, as Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem continues to blur the lines between payments, banking, and broader financial services.
The company also reiterated its commitment to developers, noting that modern financial services depend on secure, compliant infrastructure that allows builders to create new products quickly.
Paystack’s entry into banking reflects a broader shift among African fintechs towards offering end-to-end financial services as payments become increasingly commoditised.
By expanding into banking, lending, savings, and financial management tools, fintech companies are seeking deeper customer relationships, improved retention, and new revenue streams.
For Nigeria’s financial ecosystem, the move could intensify competition, particularly in the microfinance and SME segments, while further highlighting the growing convergence between fintechs and licensed financial institutions.
Paystack was founded in 2015 by Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi and was acquired by global fintech giant Stripe in 2020 in a $200 million deal.
The company was in the news late last year following sexual misconduct allegations involving its co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Ezra Olubi.
