Paystack, a leading fintech in Africa has launched its first-ever consumer product, expanding its focus to providing business-to-consumer (B2C) solutions after a marathon of nine years providing only business-to-business (B2B) services.
CEO and Co-Founder Shola Akinlade announced the launch of the new transfer app named Zap at a company event on Monday. Zap, as Paystack’s first consumer app, is designed to offer fast, secure, and reliable bank transfers in Nigeria, by aggregating other bank accounts of a customer into one system.
With the aggregation or linking of all accounts to Zap, customers can then fund their accounts easily and make transfers to any Nigerian bank account within seconds. However, only commercial banks are allowed to be linked to Zap’s aggregating infrastructure, excluding other competing neobanks such as OPay, Moniepoint, PalmPay, etc., from the list.
The Nigerian B2C fintech market is booming, with more and more people owning smartphones which signifies an increase in digital growth and a need for general financial inclusion. According to research made by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in 2024, approximately 50% of Nigerians own a smartphone, making the country a viable environment for Paystack and its products to build and expand on.
Zap promises everything neobanks such as OPay and the like also offer – fast, secure, and reliable transfers. However, it doesn’t necessarily provide an affordable alternative, making it more expensive for users who already use neobanks’ services. For instance, a deposit of ₦10,000 through a linked account costs ₦25, while a withdrawal of ₦9,900 costs an additional ₦25, making it a total of ₦50 a customer pays for both deposit and withdrawal fees for ₦10,000. But Akinlade says, “The pricing is going to evolve.”
Akinlade emphasizes that Zap isn’t trying to be a neobank as its only focus is providing fast bank transfers.
“We started thinking about how much of our day-to-day [activities] relies on bank transfers today, and how broken that experience can still be, especially when you’re in a hurry. We asked ourselves three questions: What would it take to start and finish a transfer within 30 seconds, from when I bring out my phone to when the person gets the money? What would it take for it to work every single time?” he says.
“Zap isn’t trying to be a neobank, it is just focused on one thing – bank transfers, fast.”
Paystack, which was acquired by Stripe in 2020 quickly emerged as Africa’s leading payments platform by streamlining online and offline payment solutions to businesses across Africa. The launch of Zap signifies Paystack’s strategic expansion into the B2C landscape.
