Nigerian payments infrastructure company Paystack has launched Paystack Index, a tool that integrates artificial intelligence assistants with its payment systems, allowing users to complete financial transactions directly through popular AI platforms like Claude and ChatGPT.
The new product represents a significant shift in how consumers interact with money and commerce in the region, bridging the gap between conversational AI and real-world payments.
Paystack Index operates as a connection layer between AI agents, the company’s existing consumer payment app Zap, and its wider payment infrastructure.
According to CEO Shola Akinlade, when a user asks Claude to purchase airtime, the AI handles the conversation while Index interprets the request, verifies it is supported, confirms user permissions, and routes the transaction to the appropriate merchant before processing payment through Zap and Paystack’s existing systems.
The solution currently supports airtime and mobile data purchases across Nigeria’s major networks, wallet funding and transfers through Zap, and food ordering through the Chowdeck integration.
Security remains central to the product’s design. Index does not store card numbers, Card Verification Values, personal identification numbers, or bank account credentials. Instead, it relies on Paystack’s established payment infrastructure, with transparent routing between customers and merchants. Users maintain control over every authorized payment, addressing common concerns about delegating financial decisions to AI systems.
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The launch aligns with rapid AI adoption across Nigeria. A Google-Ipsos survey showed that 88 percent of Nigerians had used generative AI over the previous year, while 62 percent integrated it into everyday tasks like meal planning and travel arrangements. Paystack’s bet is that as consumers increasingly rely on AI for decisions and task completion, payments will naturally become the next everyday activity to migrate into AI-powered experiences.
The company believes AI agents represent a fundamental shift in how people discover and pay for products, moving from asking questions to executing transactions within the same conversation.
Paystack developed Index with support from TSG Labs, the Group’s venture studio focused on emerging technologies. The product was built on existing Paystack offerings, particularly Paystack Checkout and Zap, which launched in March 2025 as Paystack’s first consumer-facing pay-with-transfer product.
The company expanded significantly over the past year through product launches including an overhauled merchant dashboard with AI capabilities, new payment method integrations including Capitec Pay in South Africa and Pesalink in Kenya, and partnerships with platforms like Flowcart Commerce.
Currently available with early access to Zap users in Nigeria, Index supports Claude, ChatGPT, and OpenClaw as AI clients. Paystack plans to expand the product gradually with additional features, supported merchants, billers, and African markets as it learns from user behavior during the beta phase.
The company intends to understand how consumers want to use AI agents for commerce, how merchants can appear in these new experiences, and what infrastructure is required for AI-led checkout to work safely across African markets from the beginning.
