Nigerian fintech, Paystack, has acquired Ladder Microfinance Bank, marking a major expansion beyond payments into full-stack financial services.
The acquisition marks the official entry of the Stripe-owned company into Nigeria’s banking space.
The company announced the launch of Paystack Microfinance Bank on Wednesday, ten years after starting operations in Nigeria.
The fintech company said the new microfinance bank will operate independently of Paystack Payments Limited, with its own licence, governance structure, and product roadmap, while working closely with the core payments business.
This comes barely a week after another leading Nigerian fintech, Flutterwave, acquired open banking startup, Mono, to strengthen its payments stack with open banking, data, and identity capabilities.
According to Paystack, the decision to move into banking is driven by insights gained from supporting over 300,000 businesses and millions of consumers across Nigeria.
The company disclosed that its systems currently process trillions of naira every month, highlighting the central role it already plays in Nigeria’s financial ecosystem.
“Payments are a critical part of the financial journey, but not the whole story. Businesses don’t just need to get paid. They need a financial operating system,” Paystack said in the statement.
The company noted that beyond accepting payments, businesses need tools to store money securely, move funds easily, gain clarity through financial data, and grow with confidence.
Individuals, on the other hand, want financial products that help them protect, grow, and use their money as their ambitions evolve.
To address these needs, Paystack said it is launching Paystack Microfinance Bank as a separate company dedicated to building banking products, while Paystack Payments Limited continues to focus on payment infrastructure.
The company noted that Paystack Microfinance Bank will be built around the same principles that shaped Paystack’s payments, adding that it had already onboarded a small group of early users and plans to gradually open the platform to more businesses and individuals over time.
Paystack emphasised that developers remain a key part of its strategy, noting that modern financial services require reliable, secure, and compliant infrastructure that allows builders to create new products quickly.
