Leading fintech company Payaza stepped into a new era on Friday July 5 as it launched its new logo and a 360 rebrand. The launch which happened at The Hall in Lagos State, was an opportunity for the brand to showcase its journey and achievements so far.
Founded in 2021, Payaza is a dynamic payment platform that helps businesses send and receive payments easily, both locally and internationally. It is run by Seyi Ebenezer (CEO), Tochukwu Ekwonna (CFO), Philips Akinyele (CTO), Tolulope Atomori (CPO), and Shola Asiru (CMO). In just three years of operating the company has created a presence in 19 countries, including countries in West Africa, Southern and Eastern Africa, and the Middle East. Late last year it got licensed as a money services business (MSB) across 50 states in North America and Canada. The company also has six ISOs and partnerships with MasterCard and Visa to facilitate payments. Currently, Payaza is the only certified Visa processor in sub-Saharan Africa.
Payaza 2.0
After years of bootstrapping and redefining payments in Africa, the team at Payaza realised that even though they had made significant contributions to the payment landscape, they had neglected the marketing and branding side of things that are pivotal to business growth. The old brand identity was also a disservice to the brand because it had grown exponentially and added new service offerings. The team at Payaza set out to rectify this and it culminated in the recent rebrand.
Speaking about this rebrand, Philip Akinyele stated that the journey in building a business in Africa has come with its unique regional challenges and lessons so far. “The journey started about four years ago and the promise was that we were going to launch a global payment platform that supports businesses, especially MSMEs. We have seen an advantage across Africa, where a lot of MSMEs are underserved. This is one of the problems that the new Payaza wants to solve. We started the journey to building a global market today, and we expect it to blow up in the next couple of years.” He also added that they are introducing new products into the market, stating, “We are not only going to be making payments, we are also going into other spaces. We have a product called Event Porte, a global ticketing solution, and a product called Stride, which is a tuition payment solution” he said.
Renewed vision
At the event, the team at Payaza unveiled a new identity in the form of a refreshed logo, a revamped website, and an updated application interface. The company also announced the expansion of its offerings to include;
- Event Porte: This platform empowers businesses and retailers to manage their events from start to finish. With this global ticketing solution businesses can create events, issue tickets, and earn revenue – all in one place.
- Stride: This is a solution that simplifies tuition payments for African students abroad and at home. Stride leverages Payaza’s expertise in payment collections and global payouts to offer a secure and reliable solution for education expenses.
Philip Akinyele also announced plans to expand to other underserved African countries. The vision is to become the trusted payment partner for all of Africa and compete with the rest of the world.
Also in attendance at the event were Mr. Ibrahim Ibitade, Co-founder and CEO at Leatherback; Mr. Gossy Ukanwoke, CEO at BetKing; Elliott Sangoleye, group head of e-business at Providus Bank; Seun Alley, CEO of Fez Delivery; Prakash Vaswani, Chairman of Geepee Industries; Caleb Izedonmi, head of risk at Visa West Africa; Adeolu Ogunsiji, managing director of TeraSwitch; Fadipe Oluranti representing Tolani Sule, the Commissioner for Tertiary Education in Lagos State; Awesu Yeside Account at Petrocam; Bukola Bankole, managing director at TNP; Sulaimon Ishola, senior manager for Financial Advisory at Deloitte; Ifelade Ayodele, CEO of Blaaiz; and a host of other business leaders. The event ended on a high note with a vote of thanks followed by a founders’ dinner for the attendees.
