Paystack, the Stripe-owned Nigerian fintech, has launched Zap, an app designed to facilitate rapid and secure bank transfers within 30 seconds. This marks Paystack’s entry into the consumer app space after nine years of focusing on merchant-oriented solutions.
“For years, we have been building infrastructure for merchants and now we are excited to show you how this same infrastructure can transform your everyday experiences, Shola Akinlade, Paystack Co-founder and CEO said at a widely attended in-person and virtual launch event this evening. “Zap is not trying to be a neobank. It is focused on one thing—bank transfers, fast. Making payments as reliable and effortless as possible.”
Initially released on November 14, 2024, and updated on March 3, 2025, the consumer app has over a thousand downloads on the Google Play store alone.
Paystack’s latest move is long-awaited. Fintech peers like Flutterwave, Opay and some banking fintechs have long enticed users with consumer offerings as their first major play. Paystack’s pride and selling point lies in its previous battle-tested successes like its API which processed over 3 billion requests and an uptime of 99.992%. Or its huge success with Paystack-Titan virtual accounts—from a partnership with Titan Trust Bank—which the fintech boasts a 98% transfer confirmation rate in 10 seconds. Akinlade claims this solution outperforms traditional card networks like MasterCard, Visa or Verve.
Zap by Paystack validates a long-held ideal by the nearly a decade-old fintech that “bank transfers are fast becoming the go-to payment method for a growing number of consumers in Nigeria.” This is especially true in low-trust environments where buyers and sellers demand instant payment verification before confirming any sale. Paystack data indicates that bank transfers accounted for 58% of transactions in 2023, a significant increase from 28% in 2022. Card payments accounted for 36% of Paystack transactions in 2023, while Internet banking and other payment options followed suit.
The surge in bank transfers is attributed to increasing smartphone penetration, projected to reach 60% by 2025, and the shift towards online transactions accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, online transfers in Nigeria reached ₦783.6 trillion, a dramatic increase from ₦31.57 billion in 2012, while ATM transactions reached ₦32 trillion.
Paystack aims to leverage this growth in the Nigerian e-payments market, which now exceeds ₦1.07 quadrillion, to establish Zap as a leading consumer payment solution and market leader.
