Payaza Adds Google Pay and Apple Pay to Capture Africa’s Diaspora Payments
Nigerian fintech company Payaza has integrated Google Pay and Apple Pay into its payment platform, a move aimed at unlocking a significant share of Africa’s estimated $95 billion annual diaspora remittance market while positioning its infrastructure for the continent’s growing digital wallet adoption.
The integration, announced this week, allows Payaza’s merchants operating across 21 African countries to accept payments from the combined 1.4 billion global users of Google Pay and Apple Pay.
Solving Diaspora Payment Friction
According to Payaza’s Chief Executive Officer, Seyi Ebenezer, the integration is less about following global payment trends and more about addressing a persistent problem: Africans in the diaspora struggling to pay businesses back home.
“Africans in the UK, US, and Canada live in these wallets,” Ebenezer said.
“When they want to support family businesses, pay for services back home, or handle remittances, they encounter friction with standard checkout forms. We have removed that.”
Strategic Timing in Africa’s Payments Landscape
The move reflects Payaza’s understanding of Africa’s fragmented digital payments ecosystem. While Apple Pay transactions on the platform are currently driven mainly by diaspora and international users, since Apple has not fully enabled local card issuance across most African markets, Google Pay already functions as a domestic payment option.
Since 2023, Nigerian Verve and Mastercard users have been able to link their cards to Google accounts, making Google Pay a viable local-to-local payment method in Nigeria and other markets.
This gives Payaza a dual advantage:
- Immediate domestic and international value through Google Pay
- Early capture of diaspora inflows via Apple Pay, ahead of wider local adoption
Key Use Cases for Merchants
Payaza said the integration supports three major use cases across its operating markets:
- Diaspora remittances to African businesses
- Inbound cross-border commerce, such as African merchants selling to customers abroad
- Payment infrastructure readiness for merchants expanding beyond Africa
“If a Kenyan SaaS company or a Nigerian hotelier cannot accept Apple Pay, they lose the sale,” Ebenezer noted.
“We are solving for the merchant who wants to earn foreign exchange.”
Built on Financial Discipline, Not VC Burn
The announcement comes amid strong financial momentum for Payaza, which has distinguished itself in Africa’s fintech ecosystem through profitability and capital discipline, rather than heavy venture capital spending.
In October 2024, the company redeemed ₦20.3 billion ($13.5 million) in commercial paper obligations entirely from internal cash flow—an uncommon achievement in a sector where many players rely on investor subsidies.
“Does profitability slow us down? No. It makes us anti-fragile,” Ebenezer said.
“While others were burning VC cash to subsidise growth that vanished when incentives stopped, we focused on unit economics and velocity.”
Building a ‘Fortress’ Payments Infrastructure
Payaza’s financial independence has enabled what the CEO describes as a “fortress” regulatory and technical infrastructure.
The company is:
- The only certified Visa processor in sub-Saharan Africa
- Licensed as a money services business across all 50 U.S. states and Canada
- Operational in 21 countries, with partnerships with Visa and Mastercard
Ebenezer said the company deliberately stayed out of the spotlight while building this foundation.
“In the payment business, if you are famous too early, it’s usually for the wrong reasons, downtime, fraud, or scandal,” he said.
“We wanted the infrastructure to be bulletproof before we turned on the spotlight.”
Regulatory Milestones and Market Recognition
Founded in 2021, Payaza has secured investment-grade credit ratings from three major agencies and was recently named a Money20/20 Awards finalist.
In July 2025, the company also received approval from Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise an additional ₦20 billion under its commercial paper programme.
No Extra Integration Required for Merchants
For existing merchants, Payaza said the Google Pay and Apple Pay functionality is automatically enabled, requiring no additional technical work. The feature is available through the platform’s existing API and merchant dashboard.
As digital wallets continue to reshape global commerce, Payaza’s latest integration positions it as a key infrastructure provider for African businesses looking to access diaspora capital and international customers.
