Nigerian startup, PaySureFy, has launched an AI-powered platform designed to protect online and cross-border transactions through escrow, identity verification and fraud intelligence.
Founded by technology entrepreneur Mgbeoji Austin, PaySureFy has entered the market with what it describes as Africa’s first AI-powered cross-border escrow and trust infrastructure platform, designed to reduce fraud and increase confidence in online and cross-border transactions.
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The company is targeting buyers and sellers, freelancers, small businesses, marketplaces, corporates, government institutions and diaspora users who increasingly conduct business online but often struggle with fraud, identity risks and payment disputes.
Unlike many fintech companies that focus on processing payments, PaySureFy says it provides the trust layer around transactions rather than moving money itself.
Its platform combines escrow workflows, identity verification, artificial intelligence-powered fraud detection, milestone-based payments, dispute resolution and compliance processes to ensure that transactions are completed only after agreed conditions have been met.
The company operates a non-custodial model, meaning it does not hold customers’ funds. Instead, regulated banking and payment partners manage the movement and settlement of money, while PaySureFy provides transaction verification, escrow logic, fraud checks, user authorisation and dispute management.
That model reflects a broader shift in financial technology, where infrastructure providers increasingly build specialised services on top of regulated financial institutions instead of competing directly as banks or payment companies.
The approach could become increasingly important as Africa’s digital economy expands beyond domestic payments into regional and international commerce.
Cross-border transactions have grown rapidly, driven by e-commerce, remote work, freelance services and the African diaspora. However, they remain vulnerable to scams, failed deliveries, identity fraud and weak dispute resolution mechanisms, creating what many industry observers describe as a “trust gap.”
Austin believes that gap represents one of the biggest opportunities in African fintech.
“Payments have become faster and more accessible, but trust has not scaled at the same speed. A transaction is not complete simply because money has moved. The parties must be verified, the agreement must be clear, and there must be protection if something goes wrong,” he said.
The idea for PaySureFy emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when businesses and consumers increasingly relied on digital transactions as lockdowns accelerated online commerce across Africa.
Austin said the project initially operated under the working names Paytrust Nigeria and Monieguard before evolving into PaySureFy in 2023 as its vision expanded beyond payment protection to a broader trust infrastructure model.
“At first, the issue was how to make payments safer. But the bigger question became: should money even move in the first place? Before money moves, the people, the transaction, the risk and the conditions should be trusted,” he posited.
The company has developed products for different categories of users, including individuals, merchants, enterprises and public institutions. Larger organisations can use multi-authorisation workflows that require several internal approvals before transactions are completed, a feature commonly used in corporate finance and public procurement.
PaySureFy also plans to offer Trust-as-a-Service through application programming interfaces (APIs), allowing marketplaces, e-commerce platforms and other businesses to integrate escrow, fraud monitoring, identity verification and dispute management into their own systems.
The company believes the service could help businesses reduce fraud, improve customer confidence and strengthen transaction accountability without building their own trust infrastructure.
To support expansion across Africa, PaySureFy is gradually introducing multilingual capabilities, including Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Twi, Swahili, French, Mandarin and Spanish, enabling users to better understand transaction terms, warnings and dispute processes.
Austin said language accessibility is essential for building trust across diverse markets.
“If trust infrastructure is going to work across Africa and cross-border corridors, it cannot speak only to one type of user,” he said.
As the company prepares for growth, Austin has brought in finance professional Adeleye Raymond as co-founder and chief financial officer. Raymond will oversee financial strategy, compliance readiness, internal controls, banking relationships and commercial expansion.
His appointment comes as PaySureFy seeks to strengthen its operational structure before scaling beyond Nigeria.
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The company sees Nigeria as its launch market but believes the opportunity extends across the continent, where cross-border trade continues to increase under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), creating demand for stronger transaction protection.
“Africa’s trust problem is not limited to one country. A Nigerian buyer, a Ghanaian freelancer, a Kenyan supplier, a South African marketplace or a diaspora sender may all face different versions of the same problem. They need safer ways to transact,” Austin said.
The launch reflects an emerging trend in African fintech, where innovation is moving beyond payments into infrastructure services such as identity verification, fraud prevention, compliance and transaction security. As digital commerce grows, companies that help build trust between transacting parties could become an increasingly important part of the continent’s financial technology ecosystem.
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