The founder of the fintech firm Paypaxe, Belema Mary Maxwell, says the company is focused on helping Nigerian businesses navigate salary payments, statutory deductions, and regulatory filings amid tighter enforcement of tax rules.
Speaking at the company’s launch in Abuja on Sunday, Maxwell said the platform’s immediate focus was to help businesses gain clarity on payroll processing and remain compliant with existing tax requirements, particularly under the current regulatory framework.
She said the web-based payroll system allows companies to register their businesses and employees, automate salary payments, and compute statutory deductions in line with applicable rules, without manual processes.
According to her, many small and medium-sized enterprises struggle with payroll administration, often relying on informal methods or bank officers to pay staff, which exposes them to errors and compliance risks.
“With the payroll system, businesses can register their employees, automate salary payments, and ensure all deductions are properly calculated,” she said. “Once payroll is processed, the system guides businesses through the remittance process so they can meet their obligations without confusion.”
Maxwell explained that the payroll platform integrates with tax remittance infrastructure, enabling businesses to move directly from salary processing to the filing and payment of statutory obligations through a single workflow, rather than navigating multiple platforms.
She noted that the system also addresses a major weakness in Nigeria’s business landscape, which is poor accounting and record-keeping, especially among smaller firms.
According to her, Paypaxe’s enterprise resource planning tools are designed to help businesses identify legitimate expenses, track payroll-related costs, manage invoices, and maintain proper records supported by receipts and bank transactions.
She said the platform was built to reflect local business realities, including petty cash management and small-value transactions, which are often poorly handled by foreign accounting software.
Maxwell said the payroll module would be available for business onboarding before the end of the month, while the broader accounting and ERP features were expected to be rolled out before the end of February.
She added that while Paypaxe has longer-term plans to offer long-term mortgage financing to ordinary earners, home ownership remains out of reach for many Nigerians.
“For you to have a house in Nigeria today is very, very difficult. You need to maybe have millions stacked,” Maxwell said. “What we want to do at the heart of Paypaxe is think of everyday Nigerians, ordinary Nigerians that work and are very hardworking, and reward them with access to home mortgages.”
She said the company’s long-term plan was to provide mortgage loans spanning between 25 and 50 years, arguing that housing should not be a privilege reserved for the wealthy or politically connected.
Maxwell explained that Paypaxe, which has launched as a financial management and payments platform, was designed to address what she described as a major gap in Nigeria’s banking ecosystem.
According to her, most digital banking apps focus on transactions but do little to help users understand or control their spending.
“We’re not just a financial payments app like a banking app. We’re also a financial management app,” she said. “On Paypaxe, we give users the tools to become better money managers, from tracking income and expenses to budgeting and setting savings targets.”
She said the platform automatically categorises spending and presents it in charts, allowing users to see clearly where their money goes, rather than scrolling through long transaction lists.
Regarding regulation and licensing, Maxwell said Paypaxe is currently operating through partnerships with licensed institutions and plans to obtain its own approvals over time.
“Our near-term goal, in less than a year, is to get a banking licence,” she said. “In two years, we want to launch Paypaxe Homes, and within five years, we want a remittance licence so people in the diaspora can send money home directly from their banking app and even save towards owning a home.”
On the investment side, Paypaxe is working with Cordros Capital, a leading financial services group in African markets, which provides regulated investment products through the app.
Speaking at the event, the Head of Abuja and Northern Region at Cordros Capital, Fatima Daniel Okpalaji, said the partnership was structured to ensure clarity and investor protection.
“They are not licensed to hold investment funds, and that’s where we come in,” Okpalaji said. “Savings and investments are two different things. Saving is just putting money in a box. Investment is putting that money to work so it can give you value.”
She said users could invest amounts as low as N10,000 through money market instruments, which offer liquidity and quick access to funds.
“We’re starting with money market investments because of flexibility,” she said. “If you need your money, you put in your instruction, and within 24 hours, you get value for your money. That flexibility is key for everyday users.”
Okpalaji said the structure of mutual funds meant that returns were proportional regardless of the size of the investment.
She also linked the appeal of Paypaxe to rising living costs, especially rent, arguing that structured savings and mortgage access could help shift Nigerians from perpetual renting to home ownership.
Both speakers further stressed the importance of financial literacy, noting that many Nigerians still lack basic knowledge about budgeting and investing.
