Paystack has unveiled a new holding company, The Stack Group (TSG), as it broadens its focus beyond payments into banking, consumer finance, and AI driven product innovation.
In a statement to Techpoint Africa, the company said the creation of TSG represents a major milestone, coinciding with Paystack’s move into profitability.
The new holding structure will oversee a collection of independent yet complementary businesses, including Paystack, Paystack Microfinance Bank, Zap, and TSG Labs.
TSG Labs has been established as a venture studio tasked with building products within and beyond the financial services space.
Legal agreements setting up the group were completed in October 2025 and are currently awaiting regulatory approval.
The announcement aligns with Paystack’s 10th anniversary and reflects a strategic transition from operating mainly as a payments company to developing wider technology and financial infrastructure for African businesses.
Paystack disclosed that since its acquisition by Stripe in 2020, the volume of payments processed on its platform has increased by more than twelve times.
The company is already licensed and operating in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, while regulatory approvals are in progress in Egypt and Rwanda.
Together, these two additional markets represent about 46 percent of Africa’s total GDP.
The establishment of TSG follows Paystack’s recent purchase of Ladder Microfinance Bank, which led to the creation of Paystack Microfinance Bank in Nigeria.
As a fully regulated standalone bank, Paystack MFB enables the group to bring critical financial infrastructure in house and develop banking and credit systems for over 300,000 Nigerian merchants.
This strategy reduces dependence on partner banks and supports quicker development of complete money movement solutions.
Beyond its merchant and banking operations, TSG also encompasses Zap, a consumer focused payments product.
The group further includes TSG Labs, which will concentrate on building new offerings powered by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Paystack explained that the venture studio will function independently from its regulated businesses, allowing experimentation with AI driven products without introducing regulatory risk to its core financial operations.
The founding shareholders of TSG include Stripe, Paystack founder and CEO Shola Akinlade, and existing Paystack employees.
Stripe continues to hold a stake in the company following its $200 million acquisition of Paystack in 2020, highlighting its sustained long term commitment.
Speaking on the development, Akinlade said the launch of TSG mirrors Paystack’s growing vision beyond payments.
“There are significant opportunities to support businesses beyond payments, and TSG enables us to address the challenges African companies face over the next decade,” he said.
Through TSG, Paystack is positioning itself as a broader technology group, with banking, consumer finance, and AI forming the core pillars of its next phase of growth.
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