Paga expands Direct Debit access for businesses beyond its network

Paga, a leading African fintech firm, is broadening its Direct Debit capabilities to enable businesses utilizing Paga Engine, its payment infrastructure platform, to collect recurrent payments from accounts beyond its network. This expansion aligns with Paga's objective of becoming a financial infrastructure provider for other businesses.

In May, TechCabal revealed that Paga was leveraging Paga Engine to commercialize nearly two decades of payment technology utilized internally. The company aims to enable businesses to utilize its infrastructure rather than developing their own payment systems. Through the Direct Debit extension, businesses can now gather ongoing payments from customers holding accounts with different Nigerian financial institutions.

Ramon Bello, Paga Engine's general manager, stated, "Our core business lies in the infrastructure; all we develop, we embed within that infrastructure, and we're extending it for others to utilize." In Nigeria, businesses typically require a card infrastructure to benefit from direct debit services. Paga is changing this by offering a solution that works across multiple financial infrastructures.

Direct Debit transactions in Nigeria reached 157.4 million in 2024, valued at approximately ₦23.3 trillion ($17 billion), marking a 17% increase from the prior year. Paga's enhanced infrastructure utilizes existing interbank payment channels, allowing businesses to connect to any bank without needing a separate card infrastructure.

Once a customer authorizes a merchant for direct debit, businesses can initiate further collections without requiring the customer to make each payment manually. Currently, Paga Engine supports over 400 businesses across sectors like manufacturing, fintech, digital content, and e-commerce. The platform also offers wallet services, enabling other businesses to host wallets on Paga.

In June, Paga partnered with TBook, a blockchain infrastructure company, to provide tokenized real-world assets on its platform. Additionally, Paga is expanding beyond domestic payments by developing infrastructure to help Nigerian businesses collect international payments via PayPal, following a partnership announced in January that enables Nigerian freelancers to receive payments from international customers.