“Did they just not care?” | Zap Africa CEO speaks on Paystack’s new branding

The Nigerian fintech ecosystem is no stranger to disruption, innovation, and the occasional clash of brands. It’s a high-stakes arena where companies compete not just on product delivery but also on identity.

Recently, a dispute has emerged between two players in this space, Paystack and Zap Africa, over the use of a shared name: “Zap.” For Tobiloba Asu-Johnson, the co-founder and CEO of Zap Africa, the controversy is personal, professional, and deeply unsettling.

“Zap was created to solve a fundamental problem in the Nigerian crypto space: trust,” Asu-Johnson says, reflecting on the company’s origins.

Founded less than three years ago by him and his co-founder, Moore Dagogo-Hart, Zap Africa was born at a time when centralised cryptocurrency exchanges were failing users, leaving them with shattered confidence and significant financial losses.

“At a time when big corporations were failing and people were losing their money to centralised exchanges, we decided to create Zap: a decentralised exchange,” he explains. “We wanted to empower Nigerians and Africans with financial autonomy.”

Zap Africa set itself apart with its non-custodial model, ensuring users maintain control over their funds.

“We’re non-custodial and have a zero-hold policy, meaning we don’t hold on to our users’ funds, no matter what,” Asu-Johnson emphasises.

This policy, combined with a focus on seamless crypto-to-naira and crypto-to-crypto transactions, quickly earned the company a loyal customer base.

The startup’s trajectory seemed clear until the day Paystack announced the launch of its new bank transfer feature, also named “Zap.”

The CEO said he first learnt about Paystack’s Zap during the launch event.

Paystack’s Zap and possible trademark infringement

Paystack, a major player in the African fintech industry, has long been lauded for its innovative approach to digital payments. The introduction of Zap, a feature designed to streamline recurring payments, was no exception. During the launch event, Paystack touted Zap as a product that would revolutionise how businesses manage and collect subscription fees. The name itself, “Zap,” was pitched as an indicator of speed and simplicity.

But for Zap Africa, the name is far more than a catchy moniker, it’s a brand they have meticulously built and legally protected.

“The name Zap has been trademarked for years now,” Asu-Johnson states. “As a business operating in a competitive space like ours, protecting our brand identity is crucial, and we will always prioritise that.”

The fallout from Paystack’s launch was immediate. He said friends asked if they could now start trading crypto on Paystack.

When two companies in similar industries use the same name, there’s going to be a significant risk, and it could cause brand dilution as well as confusion.

In response to the situation, Zap Africa’s legal team reached out to Paystack, seeking an amicable resolution. While the details of those discussions remain private, Asu-Johnson is clear about what his company is seeking:

“Ideally, we would like to see a resolution that eliminates customer confusion and upholds brand integrity. This would mean a name change from Paystack. While we respect Paystack and what they’re doing, at the end of the day, we expect a fair and responsible approach from them, and that, to us, is a name change.”

For Asu-Johnson, this dispute is more than a legal or branding issue; it’s a reflection of a deeper problem in the fintech industry.

This situation “highlights the need for stronger brand protections and a more thorough approach to originality,” he says. “Industries and companies, especially the bigger ones, must take intellectual property and branding seriously. Too often, smaller brands are overlooked, and some companies assume they can get away with things like this. That needs to change.”

The impact of the dispute goes beyond brand confusion. Asu-Johnson worries about the precedent it could set for other startups in the space.

Despite the challenges, Asu-Johnson remains optimistic about finding a resolution.

“We definitely want to focus on addressing it professionally and amicably,” he explains. “We do not want to have any conflict with any company, so we hope Paystack recognises and understands the impact of this and takes the appropriate steps to resolve it. However, we are prepared to explore all options to protect our brand.”