Paystack, a Nigerian payments platform, has started operations in South Africa after a six-month pilot, making it the startup’s third region in Africa.
This announcement comes seven months after it was purchased for $200 million by fintech behemoth Stripe.
Paystack, founded in 2015 by Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, uses its API to assist companies in Nigeria and Ghana with payment processing.
Over 60,000 organizations, including FedEx, MTN, and others, use the startup to handle over 50% of all web payments in Nigeria.
“Our launch in South Africa is a major achievement in our journey to drive trade across Africa,” said Akinlade. “We’re looking forward to continuing to develop the financial infrastructure that enables innovative African companies to grow and connect to global markets.”
“We know that receiving payments online can be difficult for many companies in South Africa,” says Khadijah Abu, Head of Product Expansion at Paystack. “Our pilot in South Africa was laser-focused on removing obstacles to entry, cutting time-consuming bureaucracy, supplying developers with world-class API documentation, and making it much easier for companies to receive payments online.”
Paystack will use South Africa’s internet access, which is among the best on the continent, to accelerate the acceptance of digital transactions following the launch.
Considering the country’s strong smartphone penetration and impressive mobility, digital payments compensate for much less than half of all transactions.
Paystack partnered closely with a variety of companies tech startups, multinational organizations, e-commerce businesses, freelance developers, and entrepreneurs of all sizes during the 6-month pilot in South Africa, as well as growing a local team to manage operational activities.
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