Paystack’s newly launched product, Zap, is already causing controversy — and not for the reasons you’d expect.
Less than 48 hours after unveiling what it said results from 23 months of meticulous development, the fintech giant is being called out for allegedly stepping on toes. Specifically, the toes of Zap Africa, a smaller but earlier player in the same space.
Let’s cut straight to it: there’s already a company called Zap Africa (@getzapnow) operating in the fintech space. They’ve been around, building steadily for about three years. They own the domain, they claim to have the name trademarked, and now they’re publicly accusing Paystack of brand infringement.
“We’ve been building Zap for 3 years now, intentionally and with full ownership. The name is trademarked. The product is live. The community is real,” Moore DH, co-founder of Zap Africa, wrote on X.
His co-founder, Tobi Asu-Johnson, was just as direct: “Our name is trademarked and we’re on it. Zap’s legal team will be reaching out to Paystack shortly. Huge shoutout to everyone who brought this to our attention.”
That’s not the kind of language startups throw around lightly — especially when it involves legal teams and trademark enforcement.
But the internet wasn’t just watching; it was digging. Within hours, users found the existing Zap Africa platform, questioned the due diligence of Paystack’s research team, and generally took turns roasting the oversight. One user put it plainly: “They saw it. They just didn’t take them serious.”
It’s a serious take, but users raised an important point: how does a company backed by Stripe, with the kind of resources and talent Paystack has, roll out a product without catching that a namesake already exists in the same region — and industry?
“After 23 months of meticulous product review and design, one can’t help but wonder… how did Paystack overlook another payment platform, Zap?” asked Morris Monye. “Was it a simple oversight, or did they deliberately choose to ignore it? The plot thickens!”
This is now a test of how big tech companies treat smaller ones in the space, with one X user stating, “It’s giving ‘copy copy’.”
So where does this leave Paystack? Quiet, for now. No statement. No clarification. No public acknowledgement of the storm online. But we are following up.
While the dust hasn’t settled, it is obvious that names matter. Ownership matters. And in an industry built on trust and identity, this has gone beyond a branding blunder, to a credibility challenge.
