Nigerian fintech startup Paystack which was recently acquired by American giant Stripe has entered into a partnership with Google to empower at least 500,000 Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, via the Google Economy Recovery Program for SMEs. Paystack in a statement posted on its official Twitter handle said that the partnership is to help the SMEs “restart, recover and digitize their businesses with new tools, financial support and training.”
According to Shola Akinlade, Founder of Paystack, the partnership with Google would enable reliability, “which would guarantee that all businesses paid via Paystack are thoroughly checked for legitimacy and credibility. In a low-trust environment like Nigeria, where many people are paying online for the first time, it’s important to deliver a safe, fraud-free experience. This is a responsibility that Paystack takes extremely seriously.”
Paystack’s partnership with Google will help SMEs to grow and digitize their businesses with new tools, financial support, training and help businesses in the selected African countries – Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa to grow and expand their country’s economy. It will further help businesses bring their ideas to market and grow their online sales, using Paystack’s collection of simple, powerful commerce tools. In 2018, Paystack partnered with other tech-based platforms like Truecaller, a smartphone application that has features of caller-identification, call-blocking, flash-messaging call-recording and more to facilitate online payments across the African continent.
The partnership with Truecaller involves using Truecaller’s database of verified phone numbers to verify payments for transactions performed on their platform. Paystack and Google share a lot in common, especially their dedication to helping businesses in Africa find growth by leveraging technology to provide them with the essential tools needed to find more customers and grow online sales.