Paystack has unveiled Paystack Index, an experimental tool that lets users in Nigeria complete everyday financial transactions through AI assistants. The product, which is currently in early-access beta, allows users to buy airtime, send money, and order food directly through supported AI platforms, including ChatGPT, Claude, and OpenClaw, without switching between apps.
How It Works
Paystack Index acts as the connection layer between a user’s AI agent, Zap, supported merchants, and Paystack’s payment infrastructure. When a user asks a supported AI assistant to carry out a transaction (buying airtime, funding a wallet, or placing a food order), Index interprets the request, routes it to the appropriate merchant or service provider, processes the transaction through Zap and Paystack’s infrastructure, and helps complete checkout within the AI experience.
Users remain in control of what they authorise. Index only acts on requests that users send through their chosen AI agent and within the permissions and limits they set. Index does not store card numbers, CVVs, PINs, or bank account credentials, and transactions are processed through Paystack’s secure payment infrastructure.
Paystack Index is live in Nigeria and currently works with Claude, ChatGPT, and OpenClaw. At launch, it supports airtime and mobile data purchases across major Nigerian networks, transfers via Zap, and food ordering through Chowdeck.
TSG Labs Behind the Product
The launch is the first public product to emerge from TSG Labs since Paystack announced the creation of The Stack Group in January 2026. TSG is Paystack’s new parent company, restructuring its operations into distinct business units: Paystack for merchant payments, Zap for consumer transactions, Paystack Microfinance Bank for banking services, and TSG Labs as its innovation arm focused on emerging technologies, including stablecoins and artificial intelligence.
Paystack Index builds on existing Paystack products such as Paystack Checkout and Zap, letting users complete daily transactions through AI while keeping payments on Paystack’s existing infrastructure.
The Bet on Agentic Commerce
Co-founder and CEO Shola Akinlade described the launch as an early experiment in extending Paystack’s checkout infrastructure into AI experiences. His view is that AI agents are moving beyond answering questions and toward becoming the primary interface through which people take real-world action, including making purchases.
Akinlade does not expect immediate mass adoption, but sees a clear opportunity to build with early adopters, noting that some users in Nigeria and across Africa were among the first to adopt ChatGPT. For now, Paystack is less focused on capturing transaction volume and more interested in understanding how users behave when AI agents become a purchasing interface.
Paystack is currently curating the merchants available on the platform, though Akinlade says that approach could evolve as usage grows and the company learns more about how customers and businesses interact through AI agents.
Nigeria’s AI Adoption as the Foundation
The launch coincides with rising AI adoption in Nigeria. A Google-Ipsos survey found that 88% of Nigerians surveyed said they had used generative AI over the previous year, while 62% said they had used it for everyday tasks such as planning trips, meals, or workout routines.
The launch marks one of the first attempts to connect AI agents directly to payments and commerce in Africa, positioning Paystack at the intersection of two fast-growing trends as AI companies globally push their assistants from information tools into execution layers.
What Comes Next
Paystack plans to gradually expand Index with additional features, supported merchants, billers, and African markets as it continues learning from user behaviour during the beta. The company has indicated it intends to extend the product to Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa as it evaluates how AI-led checkout experiences take shape across the continent.
