Zest Payments has appointed former Hydrogen CEO Kemi Okusanya to lead Stanbic IBTC’s fintech arm as it pushes deeper into merchant payments in Nigeria.
Stanbic IBTC has hired Kemi Okusanya to lead Zest, its fintech subsidiary focused on merchant payments in Nigeria.
Okusanya most recently served as CEO of Hydrogen Payment Services Company Limited, a fintech unit under Access Bank. The appointment puts a payments specialist in charge of Zest Payments at a time when Nigerian banks are leaning more on fintech subsidiaries to build and sell modern payment tools.
Zest Payments operates as a payment orchestration platform, which means it helps businesses route transactions through multiple payment methods from one setup, similar to using one switchboard for different phone lines. It also positions itself as an e-commerce enabler, offering tools for online checkout and collections.
Its rails include real-time payments, QR codes, USSD, card payments, and bank transfers. USSD is the short code menu used on feature phones, like dialing *XYZ# to pay. QR payments let customers scan a code to complete a transaction.
Leadership changes are often a signal that a bank wants faster execution in product and sales. For merchants, payment orchestration can reduce failed transactions by automatically switching between methods when one channel is down.
For Stanbic IBTC, a stronger Zest Payments business could help it compete more effectively for merchant checkout volume, especially as Nigeria’s payments market shifts toward reliability, omni-channel collections, and deeper integrations with online stores.
For the broader ecosystem, talent movement from a major bank-backed fintech like Hydrogen into another bank fintech arm suggests consolidation of experience in the regulated payments space. That can shape how quickly new payment features, compliance processes, and partner integrations reach businesses.
Primary Source: Condia
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