specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Paystack
providerId: paystack
created: '2026-05-24'
modified: '2026-05-24'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - FinOps
  - Cost Management
  - FOCUS
  - Payments
  - Africa
description: >-
  FOCUS-aligned FinOps definition for the Paystack payment platform. Paystack revenue is
  transaction-fee based — there is no subscription tier — so cost-of-acceptance is the primary
  unit of FinOps reporting. Fees are deducted at settlement and reported on per-transaction
  records via the Transactions, Settlements, and Balance Ledger APIs.
sources:
  - https://paystack.com/ng/pricing
  - https://paystack.com/docs/payments/settlements/
  - https://paystack.com/docs/api/transaction/
  - https://paystack.com/docs/api/settlement/
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: Paystack
serviceCategory: Financial Services — Payment Processing
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Usage-Based
  billingFrequency: Per-Transaction
  billingCurrency: Multi-Currency (NGN, GHS, ZAR, KES, XOF, EGP, USD)
  chargeCategories:
    - Usage
    - Adjustment
    - Refund
    - Chargeback
  primaryUnit: transaction
  secondaryUnits:
    - transfer
    - refund
    - dispute
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Paystack API
  ServiceCategory: Financial Services
  ProviderName: Paystack
  PublisherName: Paystack
  InvoiceIssuerName: Paystack Payments Limited
  PricingCategory: Usage-Based
  PricingUnit: transaction
  BillingCurrency: NGN
meters:
  - name: processing_fee_percent
    unit: percent_of_transaction
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - country
      - channel
      - local_or_international
    description: Primary percentage component of acceptance fees per transaction.
  - name: processing_fee_flat
    unit: currency
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - country
      - channel
    description: Flat per-transaction component (e.g. NGN 100 on international cards, ZAR 1.00 on local cards).
  - name: transfer_fee
    unit: currency
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - country
      - destination_bank
      - amount_band
    description: Per-payout flat fee charged when initiating transfers.
  - name: dispute_fee
    unit: currency
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - country
      - card_network
    description: Per-dispute administrative fee (variable, surfaced on dispute records).
  - name: chargeback_amount
    unit: currency
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - country
      - reason_category
    description: Funds reversed via chargeback.
chargeAttribution:
  - dimension: subaccount_code
    description: Split-payment accounting routes a configured share of each transaction to subaccounts; fees are borne per `bearer_type`.
  - dimension: customer_code
    description: Customer-level cost-per-acquisition can be derived by joining transactions on customer_code.
  - dimension: split_code
    description: Marketplace cost-of-funds reporting across multi-party splits.
costApis:
  - name: List Transactions
    method: GET
    path: /transaction
    notes: Provides per-transaction fees field for invoiced fee reporting.
  - name: Transaction Totals
    method: GET
    path: /transaction/totals
    notes: Aggregated totals over a date range.
  - name: Export Transactions
    method: GET
    path: /transaction/export
    notes: CSV export of all transactions for the period including fees.
  - name: Fetch Settlements
    method: GET
    path: /settlement
    notes: Net settlements after fees and refunds.
  - name: Balance Ledger
    method: GET
    path: /balance/ledger
    notes: Authoritative ledger for inflows and outflows including fee debits.
notes:
  - Paystack's pricing model is a clean fit for FinOps because per-transaction `fees` are returned
    on every transaction record, making it trivial to compute Effective Cost of Acceptance per
    channel, country, and customer cohort.
  - For multi-party marketplaces, the `bearer_type` on a Split determines whether the platform or
    the subaccount absorbs the fee — this is the foundation for marketplace unit economics.