Paystack, the Stripe-owned Nigerian fintech company, has entered the banking sector with the acquisition of Ladder Microfinance Bank, marking a major shift beyond its core payments business after a decade of operations.
The acquisition gives Paystack a microfinance banking licence, allowing it to hold deposits and offer lending services under a new entity, Paystack Microfinance Bank (Paystack MFB). The bank will initially focus on lending to businesses before expanding into consumer banking and banking-as-a-service (BaaS) offerings.
“After 10 years of building payment infrastructure, we realised that businesses needed more than just getting paid to grow,” Paystack’s chief operating officer, Amandine Lobelle, told TechCabal. “This allows us to address more of the pain points businesses face.”
Paystack MFB will operate independently from Paystack’s payments business but under the same parent company. The separation allows the company to test lending and deposit products while limiting regulatory exposure compared to a full commercial banking licence.
The move builds on Paystack’s recent push into consumer-facing products, including the launch of its payments app, Zap, last year. With Paystack processing trillions of naira monthly for more than 300,000 businesses, the banking licence gives the company greater control over settlement flows and higher-margin financial services.
Paystack plans to offer working capital loans, merchant cash advances, overdrafts, and term loans, using real-time transaction data from its payments platform to assess credit risk. The company said it has already generated over $2.5 million in commercial revenue and is currently protecting assets valued at about $11 billion.
The bank will compete with traditional microfinance banks such as LAPO and Accion, digital lenders like Carbon and Fairmoney, and fintech platforms including Moniepoint, OPay, PalmPay, and Kuda.
In April 2025, Nigeria’s Central Bank fined Paystack ₦250 million for regulatory issues related to Zap. Lobelle said the matter had since been resolved and did not affect approval for Paystack MFB.
Paystack said the new banking arm represents a structural shift, allowing it to move deeper into Nigeria’s financial stack while maintaining existing partnerships with commercial banks.
