Paystack has unveiled a major redesign of its merchant Dashboard, marking the first full rebuild of the product in a decade. Announced in Lagos on May 21, 2026, the new platform introduces an AI-powered Command Centre designed to help businesses access performance insights using natural language. The update reflects Paystack’s broader push to make payment operations easier, faster, and more intelligent for merchants across its markets.
A Dashboard Rebuilt for Changing Business Needs
For years, the Paystack Dashboard has served as the main workspace for merchants managing transactions, settlements, disputes, and daily payment activity. As Paystack expanded its services, the platform became more capable, but also more layered and complex for users navigating a growing range of tools. The redesigned version aims to reduce that complexity by reorganising the experience around clearer navigation, stronger analytics, and a more intuitive product structure.
The new Dashboard is built on Pax, Paystack’s internal design system, and introduces a streamlined architecture divided into two main areas: Payments and Products. This structure is intended to make it easier for merchants to locate key features while giving Paystack room to add more services over time. The company said the initial release focuses on core payments modules, with additional products expected to move into the new framework gradually.
AI-Native Command Centre
At the centre of the redesign is an AI-native Command Centre embedded directly inside the Dashboard. Rather than functioning as a separate chatbot, the feature allows merchants to ask business questions in plain language and receive responses based on their own Paystack data. Answers can be delivered as text, tables, or charts, depending on the type of information requested.
The system combines GPT models, structured data retrieval, and visualisation capabilities to provide responses in formats that match the user’s needs. A merchant could, for example, ask what happened with a specific transaction or why revenue changed during a particular week. Paystack says the goal is to shift the Dashboard from a static reporting environment into a more active decision-support tool.
Designed Around Merchant Workflows
Dara Assim-Ita, Senior Product Designer at Paystack and lead on the rebuild, said businesses typically come to dashboards because they need answers, not because they want to move through multiple pages. According to Assim-Ita, the redesign was shaped by the recognition that merchants often lose time using tools built mainly to display data rather than explain it. The new experience is intended to help users understand business performance more directly and make decisions with less friction.
The company also introduced full mobile parity, making every screen, feature, and action available on mobile as well as desktop. This means merchants can manage payment operations and access Dashboard functionality regardless of device. The redesigned product also includes dark mode, reflecting Paystack’s effort to modernise both usability and interface design.
Safety, Privacy, and Product Foundations
To support the AI experience, Paystack developed a new service called Project Canvas API. The service manages conversations, connects to model providers, and integrates with existing Paystack systems to ensure responses are grounded in merchant data. Because the Dashboard handles sensitive financial information, Paystack said the system includes safeguards for safety, compliance, and data protection.
The company worked with its Data Protection and Privacy team, completed a Data Protection Impact Assessment, and conducted adversarial testing before launch. These steps were intended to reduce risks associated with AI-generated answers in a financial operations environment. Paystack said the design principle behind the product was to make AI useful by embedding it into tasks merchants already perform.
The new Paystack Dashboard is now available to merchants through dashboard.paystack.com/v2. By combining simplified navigation, stronger analytics, mobile parity, and an AI-driven Command Centre, Paystack is positioning the Dashboard as a more responsive operating hub for businesses. The launch signals a broader shift in financial technology products, where merchants increasingly expect software not only to show data, but to interpret it and support faster decisions.