Paystack, a well-known Nigerian financial tech company, is facing a serious issue after launching a new product called Zap.
The product was introduced to the public on March 24, 2025, during a company event where Paystack’s CEO, Shola Akinlade, demonstrated how it works.
According to the company, Zap was created to help people send money quickly and safely.
But shortly after its launch, things started to go wrong.
Another startup, Zap Africa, quickly reacted on social media, claiming to be the original and only brand with the name “Zap” in Nigeria and across Africa.
This triggered public concerns about a possible trademark clash and raised questions about whether the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had approved the product at all.
A report by Big Tech This Week revealed that Paystack never informed the CBN about the launch of Zap.
Nigerian laws require fintech companies to get permission from the CBN before introducing products, especially those that involve money transfers.
But Paystack ignored this rule.
To make matters worse, users discovered that Zap was being used for international money transfers.
A user on social media said they were able to send money from their Revolut account in Europe to a Nigerian bank through Zap, even though Paystack claimed that Zap was only available for people in Nigeria.
Big Tech This Week tried a similar test using a Monzo account in the UK and sent money to a GTBank account in Nigeria through Zap.
The transaction went through smoothly. However, Paystack is not licensed by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to handle international money transfers.
When asked, the FCA confirmed that Zap has no license or approval to operate in the UK or carry out cross-border payments.
The regulator warned that using unlicensed platforms comes with risks and users cannot be protected if something goes wrong.
In Nigeria, a source from the CBN told Big Tech This Week that Paystack has no license to operate Zap as an International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO), which is required for any company handling cross-border remittances.
The source said that money moving between countries must be approved by both the country it’s coming from and the one it’s going to, something Paystack failed to do.
On top of the licensing issue, documents show that Zap Africa applied for the trademark in October 2023, while Paystack filed for its own version later in December of the same year.
The legal battle over the name is ongoing, but the bigger problem remains the unapproved launch and operation of Zap.
CBN is known for being strict with companies that break its rules, and the penalties can include heavy fines or jail time.
Before Paystack can even deal with the trademark issue, it must first explain to regulators why it launched a financial product without approval and why it allowed it to be used for international transfers without the right licenses.
