Nairobi, Kenya – Integrated Payment Services Limited (IPSL), the operator of Pesalink, has launched a new Fintech Programme.
The programme, a major initiative set to reshape Kenya’s digital finance landscape, marks a strategic shift for Pesalink, moving from a closed payment network to an open, industry-led innovation platform.
Pesalink Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gituku Kirika said the programme is designed to help fintechs, banks, and digital platforms build, scale, and deliver new financial services more quickly by providing direct access to its secure APIs, settlement network, and shared infrastructure.
“We are moving beyond enabling transfers to enabling innovation. The Fintech Programme gives the sector freedom to experiment, test, and connect directly with our rails,” said Kirika, at the sideline of the event attended by News Nine.
Describing the initiative as a “landmark moment” for Kenya’s digital ecosystem, Kirika noted that it has three core components: engaging fintechs and settlement banks, developing new use cases, and providing developer tools.
Which Pesalink products are transforming payment
The new Pesalink Sandbox, which enables developers to safely test integrations and validate ideas, is set to reduce costs and speed up time-to-market.
This new access is already being channelled into tangible products. Pesalink has unveiled BulkPay, an API and web interface that allows businesses to instantly send hundreds of payments for salaries, supplier payouts, or loan disbursements.
Kirika noted that this is crucial, as 50% of Pesalink’s transactions are already in the person-to-business or business-to-business space.
A second product, PesalinkPay, enables merchants to receive instant, direct account-to-account payments, enhancing the checkout experience.
The programme’s primary goal is to address two of the biggest challenges in the market: fragmentation and cost.
“Some of the gaps we have are to do with fragmented ecosystems. What we deliver to the ecosystem as a switch is the ability to open up these ecosystems,” Kirika explained.
Chief Commercial Officer at IPSL, Ken Lisudza, echoed this, stating that the high cost of transactions is a key consumer pain point.
“Our aim is to reduce costs by providing a single integration point, enabling you to access any use case or service offered by any participant on this network easily,” Lisudza said.
Lisudza highlighted the creation of “deep value-added services,” such as advanced, data-driven credit scoring, to deliver personalised financial products.
With Kenya’s digital payments market projected to grow by 14.1% annually, Pesalink is scaling its infrastructure to meet demand.
The CEO confirmed that the company is “working towards processing 1,000 transactions per second.”
The programme, which has already onboarded 26 fintech partners, forms the foundation of Pesalink’s mission to connect all players “through open, secure, and interoperable real-time rails that deliver simplicity, speed, and trust for every transaction.”
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