Paystack Acquires Microfinance Bank To Enter Nigeria’s Banking Sector

Paystack has entered Nigeria’s banking sector with the acquisition of Ladder Microfinance Bank, marking a structural shift from payments into deposit-taking and lending.

The newly renamed Paystack Microfinance Bank (Paystack MFB) will operate independently alongside Paystack’s payments business, allowing the fintech to offer loans, deposits, and banking-as-a-service products while remaining within microfinance regulatory limits.

According to COO Amandine Lobelle, Paystack MFB will initially focus on lending to businesses before expanding into consumer banking.

The move gives Paystack greater control over settlement flows after a decade of processing payments for over 300,000 Nigerian businesses, enabling it to upsell higher-margin banking products and underwrite credit using live transaction data.