Paystack, the Stripe-backed Nigerian fintech, has launched a fully redesigned merchant dashboard for the first time in a decade. The centrepiece is an AI-native Command Centre that lets businesses query their payment data using plain language and receive answers as text, charts, or tables. The launch arrives as AI adoption accelerates across African enterprises and as Paystack itself undergoes a broader corporate transformation under its new parent entity, The Stack Group.
Key Overview
- What: Paystack’s first full dashboard rebuild in 10 years, featuring an embedded AI Command Centre
- Who: Over 300,000 merchants across Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, and Côte d’Ivoire
- When: Announced May 21, 2026, in Lagos, Nigeria
- AI Engine: Combines GPT models, structured data retrieval, and visualisation tools via a new internal service called Project Canvas API
- Corporate Context: Follows the January 2026 launch of The Stack Group, Paystack’s parent holding company
- Market Signal: Arrives amid PwC findings that 82% of African organisations are running AI pilots
A Decade-Old Interface Gets an AI Overhaul
For nearly ten years, the Paystack Dashboard served as the central hub where merchants monitored transactions, managed settlements, and reviewed disputes. But as the company expanded its product suite and merchant base, the original interface grew increasingly complex, prompting a ground-up rebuild.
The new dashboard was constructed using Pax, Paystack’s internal design system, and reorganises navigation into two core sections — Payments and Products — to reduce clutter and support future scalability. It also delivers full mobile parity, meaning every feature available on desktop works identically on smartphones and tablets, alongside a new dark mode.
The redesign took roughly five months from the first design decision to launch, with research and design running from November 2025 through early January 2026 and engineering development spanning mid-January to mid-April 2026.
How the AI Command Centre Works
The standout feature is the AI-powered Command Centre embedded directly into the dashboard — not a separate chatbot or sidebar widget. Merchants can type questions such as “What happened with this transaction?” or “Why is revenue down this week?” and receive direct answers grounded in verified merchant data.
The system combines GPT models with structured data retrieval and visualisation tools to determine the most useful response format — whether that is a text summary, a chart, or a structured table.
To power this experience, Paystack developed an internal service called Project Canvas API, which manages conversations, connects to AI model providers, and interfaces with existing Paystack systems. “Merchants can now simply ask questions and get a direct answer,” said Dara Assim-Ita, Senior Product Designer at Paystack, who led the rebuild. “The goal is to make the Dashboard feel less like a static reporting tool and more like an intelligent command centre.”
Data Privacy and Safety Protections
Because the dashboard processes sensitive financial data, Paystack built compliance safeguards into the system’s architecture. Responses are screened against safety and compliance requirements before being returned to users. The company also completed a Data Protection Impact Assessment and ran extensive adversarial testing ahead of launch, working closely with its internal Data Protection and Privacy team.
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Part of a Larger Strategic Shift
The dashboard overhaul does not exist in isolation. It follows Paystack’s January 2026 announcement of The Stack Group, a parent holding company that brings together its merchant payments business, the consumer app Zap, Paystack Microfinance Bank, and TSG Labs — a venture studio exploring AI and stablecoins.
Since its acquisition by Stripe in 2020, Paystack has grown payment volume by 12 times and reached group-level profitability. The Stack Group structure, with founding shareholders including Stripe and CEO Shola Akinlade, signals ambitions well beyond payments processing.
In that context, the AI-powered dashboard looks less like a product refresh and more like infrastructure for whatever Paystack builds next. The company has confirmed that the current release focuses on core payment workflows, with additional products expected to migrate to the new architecture over time.
Riding Africa’s AI Adoption Wave
Paystack’s timing aligns with a broader continental shift toward AI integration. A PwC report released in May 2026 found that 82% of African organisations are running AI pilot projects, though few have scaled adoption enterprise-wide. African companies invest an average of just 2% of revenue in AI, compared with 5% among global leaders.
Meanwhile, a Mastercard whitepaper projects Africa’s AI market will grow from $4.5 billion in 2025 to $16.5 billion by 2030, driven by adoption in finance, healthcare, and agriculture.
By embedding AI directly into a tool already used by hundreds of thousands of merchants, Paystack is positioning itself among the African fintechs moving AI from experimental pilots into daily business operations.
What Comes Next
Paystack has indicated that the current release is a foundation. More of the company’s products will migrate to the new dashboard architecture, and the AI Command Centre is expected to expand in capability as merchant research and feedback continue to shape the product roadmap. For now, the redesigned dashboard is available to merchants at dashboard.paystack.com/v2.
Sources: TechCabal / Businessday NG / Techpoint Africa / TechLabari / HapaKenya / Africa Business Communities / The Nigerian Voice / Innovation Village / ThisDay Live / Semafor / PwC Kenya / Mastercard Newsroom
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