Background of the Study
Payment gateways are the backbone of e-commerce, facilitating secure transactions between buyers and sellers. In Nigeria, platforms like Paystack play a critical role in enabling digital payments, supporting the growth of online businesses. However, e-commerce platforms and their users frequently encounter challenges with payment gateways, including technical failures, security concerns, and limited integration with financial systems (Umeh & Johnson, 2024).
As one of Nigeria's leading payment gateways, Paystack handles a significant volume of transactions daily. Despite its successes, the platform faces issues such as downtime, fraud attempts, and regulatory constraints, which affect its efficiency and reliability (Chukwu, 2023). These challenges impact the overall customer experience and the growth of Nigeria’s e-commerce ecosystem.
This study explores the challenges faced by Paystack and examines how they affect the e-commerce sector in Nigeria.
Statement of the Problem
Despite advancements in payment gateway technologies, challenges persist in Nigeria’s e-commerce sector. Issues such as payment failures, delayed settlements, and security breaches undermine consumer trust and business performance. Paystack, as a major player, has been at the center of these challenges, raising concerns about the sustainability of its services (Ogundipe & Adekunle, 2023).
Without addressing these challenges, the growth of Nigeria’s e-commerce sector could stall, limiting its contribution to the national economy. This study seeks to identify and address these issues to enhance the efficiency of payment gateways.
Objectives of the Study
Research Questions
Research Hypotheses
Scope and Limitations of the Study
This study focuses on Paystack as a case study, examining payment gateway challenges and their impact on e-commerce in Nigeria from 2023 to 2025. Limitations include restricted access to proprietary data and the dynamic nature of e-commerce trends.
Definitions of Terms
Fraud Attempts: Unauthorized or malicious activities aimed at exploiting payment systems.