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Paystack, a Nigerian payments firm has launched The Stack Group (TSG), a new parent holding company as it expands from payments to banking, consumer finance, and emerging technologies.
TSG will serve as the corporate umbrella for a family of complementary brands, including Paystack, Paystack Microfinance Bank (MFB), Zap, and TSG Labs, a newly formed venture studio and incubator that will also build products beyond fintech, including AI-led offerings.
Founding shareholders of TSG include Stripe, Paystack Founder and CEO Shola Akinlade, and existing Paystack employees.
12x Growth and Profitability Since Stripe Acquisition
Founded in 2016, Paystack was acquired by global payments giant Stripe in 2020 and has since grown its payment volumes by more than 12x and has now reached profitability at the group level.
It’s currently licensed and operational in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, and South Africa, with regulatory approvals in place for Egypt and Rwanda and these announcement coincides with Paystack’s 10-year anniversary.
Paystack Microfinance Bank
The launch of TSG follows the recent debut of Paystack Microfinance Bank (MFB) in Nigeria. Operating as a standalone bank, Paystack MFB allows the group to internalise critical financial rails and deliver banking and credit infrastructure to over 300,000 Nigerian merchants.
According to the company, these capabilities will enable the development of compliant, end-to-end money-movement solutions while strengthening Paystack’s mission of building technology to power African ambition.
Expanded Portfolio
While operating independently, companies under TSG will share values, talent, and deep experience in building technology products tailored to Africa-specific challenges.
At launch, the TSG portfolio includes Paystack which is focused on merchant payments, Zap which is focused on consumer payments and Paystack Microfinance Bank, it’s new banking and credit infrastructure and the TSG Labs, a venture studio building new products in fintech and emerging technologies such as AI.
The Next Decade
Commenting on the announcement, Shola Akinlade, Founder and CEO of Paystack, said the creation of TSG reflects the company’s broader ambitions beyond payments.
“The launch of TSG signals a larger scope of ambition for us and sets the tone for the next decade of our company. Having worked with thousands of companies across the continent since 2016, it is clear that there are significant opportunities to support businesses beyond payments, and TSG enables us to address the challenges African companies face.”
He also thanked Stripe for its continued support, noting the shared belief in Africa’s potential to produce transformative global technology companies.
With TSG, the firm positions itself not just as a payments company, but as a multi-vertical technology group focused on building the infrastructure that African businesses need to scale over the next decade.