Paystack Inc., the Nigerian fintech owned by Stripe, is taking a bold step into banking with the acquisition of Ladder Microfinance Bank. The move gives the company greater control over the money flowing through its network after a decade focused primarily on payment processing.
The newly rebranded Paystack Microfinance Bank (Paystack MFB) will start by lending to businesses before extending services to individual consumers. It will also offer banking-as-a-service (BaaS) solutions, enabling companies to build financial products on top of its platform.
“After 10 years building payment infrastructure, we realized businesses needed more than just getting paid to grow,” Paystack COO Amandine Lobelle said. “We want to leverage our expertise to solve the pain points businesses face daily.”
Paystack MFB will operate independently from Paystack Payments, even as both entities collaborate within regulatory frameworks. This separation limits regulatory exposure while allowing the fintech to experiment with lending and deposit products without taking on the full compliance burden of a commercial bank.
The microfinance bank strengthens Paystack’s consumer push, which began with its payments app Zap last year. Now, with regulatory backing to take deposits, Paystack can offer tailored financial services to its 300,000 business clients, boosting revenue per customer and lowering barriers for new banking products in Nigeria.
“Combining the rapid innovation of a tech-first platform with the stability of traditional banking gives us the right balance,” Lobelle said.
Paystack MFB will compete with traditional microfinance banks like LAPO and Accion, digital lenders such as Carbon and Fairmoney, and embedded finance platforms including Moniepoint, OPay, PalmPay, and Kuda. Unlike some digital-first banks that started with deposits and consumer banking before offering credit, Paystack is approaching banking from the infrastructure layer up.
The move also marks a structural shift: while Paystack Payments previously relied on partner banks to hold funds, Paystack MFB allows the company to control liquidity directly, offering loans, overdrafts, and merchant cash advances to businesses. By combining real-time payment data with deposits, Paystack can underwrite credit faster and with greater precision than traditional lenders.
Despite past regulatory hurdles Paystack was fined ₦250 million ($190,000) in April 2025 over its Zap wallet the company has since secured approval for the app, and the microfinance licence is unrelated to that fine.
Paystack MFB will operate independently of Brass, another business banking platform backed by a Paystack-led consortium, though Brass may benefit from BaaS offerings.
With Nigeria’s small business financing gap estimated at $32 billion, Paystack’s banking move positions it to provide both the infrastructure and capital small businesses need. “By making Paystack MFB the fastest, most reliable way to move money, we aim to become the primary bank account for businesses,” Lobelle said.