Everything Nigerian online sellers need to know about Paystack — setup, supported payment methods, transaction fees, settlement timelines, and how to connect it to your store in minutes.
If you're selling online in Nigeria, Paystack is the payment processor you need. It's trusted by over 200,000 Nigerian businesses, regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and supports every major way Nigerians pay — from debit cards to USSD on a feature phone.
This guide walks you through exactly how Paystack works for Nigerian online stores, how to set it up, what it costs, and how to avoid the common mistakes that trip up new sellers.
In This Guide
Paystack is a Nigerian payment processing company founded in 2015 and acquired by Stripe in 2020. It powers online payments for businesses ranging from solo sellers to large Nigerian companies like Piggyvest, Hotels.ng, and Flutterwave's merchants.
For Nigerian online store owners, Paystack solves three critical problems:
Paystack gives your customers six ways to pay — covering virtually every Nigerian buyer:
Supports Visa, Mastercard, and Verve cards issued by any Nigerian bank — GTBank, Access, Zenith, UBA, First Bank, Kuda, OPay, and all others. This is the most commonly used payment method for Nigerian online buyers.
Paystack generates a unique virtual account number for each transaction. Your customer opens their banking app, transfers the exact amount to that account, and Paystack confirms the payment within seconds. No card needed — works with every Nigerian bank app.
Customers dial a shortcode on their phone (e.g. *737# for GTBank) and authorise the payment — no internet required. This is critical for reaching buyers in areas with poor data connectivity. Supported banks include GTBank, Access, Zenith, UBA, and more.
Customers can pay directly from their mobile money wallet. As these wallets grow in Nigeria, this channel is increasingly important — especially for younger buyers and those without traditional bank accounts.
Paystack also accepts international Visa and Mastercard payments, making it possible to sell to Nigerian diaspora and international buyers without any additional setup.
Go to paystack.com and sign up. You'll need a business email address and phone number. Creating an account is free — Paystack only earns money when you receive a payment.
Paystack requires identity verification to activate live payments. For individuals (sole traders), you'll need your BVN and a personal bank account. For registered businesses, you'll also need your CAC documents. Verification typically takes 24–72 hours.
In your Paystack dashboard, go to Settings → Bank Account and add the Nigerian bank account you want Paystack to pay into. This is where your sales revenue will be deposited automatically.
In your CartMor dashboard, navigate to Store Settings → Payments. Click Connect Paystack — you'll be prompted to enter your Paystack Secret Key, which you can find in your Paystack dashboard under Settings → API Keys & Webhooks. Paste it in and save. Your store will immediately start processing live payments.
Place a small test order on your own store and complete a real payment. Confirm that the order appears in your CartMor dashboard, a confirmation email is sent to the buyer, and the transaction appears in your Paystack dashboard. Once confirmed, you're fully live.
CartMor shortcut: CartMor is built with Paystack integration included. There's no plugin to install, no code to write, and no webhook to configure manually — just paste your API key and you're done. Start your free trial to see how fast the setup is.
Paystack charges a percentage of each transaction. There are no monthly fees, no setup fees, and no hidden charges — you only pay when you receive a payment.
Paystack Fee Schedule (Nigeria, 2026)
Nigerian cards & bank transfers
Visa, Mastercard, Verve, bank transfer, USSD
1.5% + ₦100
Fee cap per transaction
For transactions above ₦2,500
Max ₦2,000
Transactions below ₦2,500
The ₦100 flat fee is waived
1.5% only
International cards
Non-Nigerian Visa / Mastercard
3.9% + ₦100
Monthly / setup fees
₦0 — None
Pricing tip: Most Nigerian online sellers factor Paystack fees into their product prices — they add roughly 2% to their prices and never feel the deduction. You can also pass the fee directly to customers by adjusting your checkout pricing.
Paystack operates on a rolling settlement schedule. Here's exactly how it works:
Settlements are automatic — you don't need to request a payout. Every weekday, Paystack bundles the previous day's verified transactions and sends the net amount (after fees) to your bank account.
In your Paystack dashboard, go to Transactions to see all payments with their status (successful, pending, failed). The Settlements tab shows each batch that has been paid into your bank account, with exact dates and amounts.
All successful Paystack transactions also appear in your CartMor order dashboard, matched to the corresponding order — so you never need to cross-reference two systems manually.
Security is where Paystack genuinely earns its position as Nigeria's most trusted payment processor:
Bottom line on fraud: When a customer pays through your CartMor store via Paystack, you will only see "Payment Successful" when the money has genuinely cleared. There is no fake alert risk. Never release goods based on a WhatsApp screenshot — always confirm through your CartMor or Paystack dashboard.
Having Paystack on your store is step one. Getting customers to actually complete payment is step two. Here's what Nigerian sellers do to reduce abandoned checkouts:
Don't restrict customers to cards only. Enable bank transfer, USSD, and mobile money. Many Nigerian buyers prefer bank transfer because they don't have to enter card details — it feels safer and more familiar. CartMor enables all Paystack channels by default.
Add text like "Secure payment by Paystack" and the Paystack logo near your checkout button. Nigerian buyers who recognise Paystack are more confident completing the purchase. CartMor's store templates include these trust signals automatically.
Every extra field at checkout is an opportunity for a buyer to abandon. Collect only what you need — name, phone number, delivery address, and payment. CartMor's checkout is optimised for Nigerian mobile users with this in mind.
As soon as Paystack confirms payment, your customer should receive an order confirmation — by email or SMS. This builds confidence that their payment went through and their order is being processed. CartMor triggers automatic order confirmation emails the moment payment is verified.
If a customer added items to their cart but didn't complete payment, follow up via WhatsApp or email within a few hours. A simple message like "Hi, we noticed you didn't complete your order — is there anything we can help with?" recovers a significant portion of abandoned carts.
CartMor includes Paystack integration out of the box — no plugins, no code, no configuration headaches. Get your store live in under 30 minutes.
Start Free Trial — No Credit Card NeededPaystack is Nigeria's most used payment processor. It sits between your customer and your bank — when a customer pays on your store, Paystack verifies the transaction in real time and deposits the net amount into your bank account within 24–48 hours. It eliminates fake alert fraud and supports all major Nigerian payment methods.
For Nigerian cards and bank transfers: 1.5% + ₦100 per transaction, capped at ₦2,000 for transactions above ₦2,500. For transactions below ₦2,500, the ₦100 flat fee is waived. International cards are charged at 3.9% + ₦100. There are no monthly fees.
Paystack settles funds the next business day (T+1) for most verified accounts. Some transaction types settle within T+2. New accounts may experience a longer initial settlement window of up to 5 business days.
Yes. Paystack accepts individual accounts — you need your BVN and a personal Nigerian bank account. Unregistered accounts have lower transaction limits. Upgrading to a registered business account (CAC documents required) removes these limits and increases your monthly processing cap.
Paystack supports debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Verve), bank transfers, USSD, mobile money (OPay, PalmPay, Kuda), QR code payments, and international cards. All major Nigerian banks are supported.
Yes. Paystack is PCI-DSS Level 1 compliant, regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and uses 3D Secure authentication on card payments. All bank transfer payments are verified instantly, making fake alert fraud impossible when using Paystack.
CartMor Team
Published April 2026
