Paystack exited its private beta phase in Kenya after its November 2022 launch. This means interested businesses can now fully access the company’s payment and other business tools. Paystack entered the Kenyan market by acquiring a payment license from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and subsequently launched a private beta product for select businesses. According to a statement, over 700 businesses registered for it.
“10 months ago, we announced that we had received a payment service provider authorisation from the central bank of Kenya and announced the launch of our Kenya private beta. Since then, we’ve worked very closely with a vibrant community of business owners, developers, and partners. Over 700 businesses signed up for the beta,” Paystack said in a post.
Paystack operates in three other markets: Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa. Having launched as a sole startup in Nigeria, it was acquired by Stripe in 2020 in a transaction that cost over $200 million. The development marked Stripe’s expansion drive to accelerate digital commerce in Africa. “We continue to work closely with the Stripe team on our mission to accelerate commerce in Africa with online and in-person payment tools.”
Paystack is one of the few prominent payment service providers available in the Kenyan market. Some key rivals, such as Flutterwave – also Nigerian, and Chipper Cash, have not received licenses to operate locally. However, there is a high chance that this could change for Flutterwave after it received name approval from CBK. Chipper Cash runs a local office but does not conduct any payment processing work in the country.
Paystack offers a versatile platform for businesses in Kenya, enabling online payment acceptance via various channels, including cards, M-PESA, and Apple Pay. It facilitates multi-currency settlements, supports e-commerce integration, and funds transfers to M-PESA wallets, among other services.
Paystack should fix these issues
For now, Paystack has some issues it needs to fix on its platform. First, there is no way to send funds from a Paystack wallet to a Kenyan bank account, as customers are limited to M-PESA transfers only amidst other mobile money wallets such as T-Kash by Telkom Kenya and Airtel Money. Payout timelines could be shorter, too, although Paystack has revealed that it is working on fixing the issue. Finally, Paystack says that customers using Paystack checkout can make payments through bank transfer in a soon-to-be-launched service called Pay with Bank Transfer.
