Paystack has widened its partnership with Pesalink, Kenya’s real-time interbank transfer network, allowing shoppers to pay merchants directly from their bank accounts through Paystack Checkout. The move builds on an agreement that began in October 2025, when Pesalink was first introduced as a way for Paystack to settle payouts to merchants.
From Settlements to Customer Payments
Until now, Pesalink’s role in the Paystack ecosystem sat mostly behind the scenes, moving money from Paystack to merchants after a sale was completed. The expanded partnership flips that around, putting the same rail to work on the customer-facing side of a transaction. Businesses can now offer Pesalink as a payment option at checkout, meaning both collection from customers and settlement to merchants run through one shared banking infrastructure rather than separate systems that need to be reconciled manually.
For a shopper, choosing Pesalink at checkout generates a dedicated bank account number and a one-time payment reference. The customer completes the transfer through their own banking app, and once the amount and reference match, the payment is confirmed automatically. There is no need for a customer to send proof of payment, and merchants no longer have to manually match incoming transfers to specific orders inside their dashboards.
Why Businesses Should Care
The practical appeal for merchants is less about adding another payment method and more about cutting the operational work that tends to follow a bank transfer. Business-to-business transactions and higher-value consumer purchases, which often rely on direct bank payments rather than cards or mobile money, stand to benefit most from the change. Pesalink supports transfers of up to KES 999,999, a limit that comfortably covers most B2B use cases in Kenya.
Pesalink itself is operated by Integrated Payment Services Limited, a subsidiary of the Kenya Bankers Association, and links more than 80 financial institutions across the country for instant account-to-account transfers. The network has been positioning itself as a bank-led alternative to mobile money, a strategy reinforced by its recent integration with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, which extends its reach beyond Kenya’s borders.
What It Means for Kenya’s Payments Landscape
Paystack already supports M-Pesa, Airtel Money, cards and Apple Pay for Kenyan merchants, so Pesalink adds a bank-first option to an already broad menu of ways to pay. The bigger story, though, is the direction of travel: infrastructure providers are increasingly judged on how seamlessly money moves once a transaction begins, not just on how many buttons a customer sees at checkout.
For Kenyan businesses, particularly those handling large-ticket or B2B payments, the expanded Pesalink integration offers a way to collect and settle funds through a single, reconciled channel, cutting down on the manual verification work that bank transfers have traditionally required.
