What Paystack acquired Allawee really means for African founders
What Paystack acquired Allawee really means for African founders — what it actually costs, who it squeezes out, and the moves an early-stage founder can borrow this quarter.
Allawee Pic
- The core development and why it matters for African business right now
- The real numbers behind the story — costs, valuations or growth figures
- A concrete, actionable takeaway founders and operators can apply this quarter
Allawee is shutting down its accounts and cards on 1 December. Customers have less than three months to move to other services.
The Nigerian fintech was acquired by Paystack in 2025. The transaction was not announced publicly. Allawee's customers only learnt about the deal through emails about the closure of its services.
Allawee said its technology now operates within Paystack.
- The core development and why it matters for African business right now
- The real numbers behind the story — costs, valuations or growth figures
- A concrete, actionable takeaway founders and operators can apply this quarter
AI-generated summary. It can miss nuance — read the full story above for the complete picture.
Allawee is shutting down its accounts and cards on 1 December. Customers have less than three months to move to other services. The Nigerian fintech was acquired by Paystack in 2025. The transaction was not announced publicly. Allawee's customers only learnt about the deal through emails about the closure of its services. Allawee said its technology now operates within Paystack. Customers have until 30 November to withdraw their money, change their banking details and replace Allawee card details linked to subscriptions. The company has warned that payments sent to an Allawee account after 1 December will fail. Its cards will also stop working, even if the expiry date on the card is later.
What happens to Allawee customers
Allawee is sending business and individual customers to different Paystack products. Businesses are being directed to Paystack Microfinance Bank. Individual customers are being directed to Zap, Paystack's consumer transfer app. There is no automatic transfer of accounts. Customers will need to sign up again. Their Allawee account numbers, transaction histories and verification records will not carry over. Their balances will also not appear automatically in the new accounts. Allawee said customers who still have money in their accounts after the deadline can request a manual payout from Paystack MFB. The company has advised customers to withdraw their money before the shutdown.
“The brand is being closed, while parts of the business are being absorbed into Paystack's existing products.”
Allawee was built around cards
Allawee started in 2022 when Ikenna Enenwali and Oreofe Olurin launched the company as a credit card lender. It later moved into credit risk software before settling on card infrastructure. That became its main business. The company built systems that allowed fintechs and other businesses to issue cards without developing the technology themselves. By May 2025, Allawee was issuing cards for Piggyvest, Nomba and Carbon. Enenwali said at the time that launching a card programme from scratch could take one to two years. Allawee also had products aimed at consumers and businesses. It offered business accounts through Providus Bank. It also launched a Mastercard credit card for federal civil servants and National Youth Service Corps members.
Paystack is absorbing another fintech
Allawee is not the first financial services company Paystack has brought into its operations. In January, Paystack acquired Ladder Microfinance Bank. The deal gave the payments company a microfinance banking licence in Nigeria. It then moved Brass's business banking operations into Paystack MFB in June. The Allawee acquisition is being handled in much the same way. The brand is being closed. Parts of the business are being absorbed into Paystack's existing products. The card technology could be one of the more useful parts of Allawee for Paystack. Building this type of infrastructure can take significant time.
Paystack has not disclosed the deal
Neither Paystack nor Allawee has said how much was paid for the acquisition. The companies have also declined to comment on why Allawee's accounts are being closed. They have not said what will happen to its remaining products. For Allawee customers, the key date is 30 November. By then, they need to move their money and update their account details with people who pay them. They also need to replace Allawee card details used for recurring payments. From 1 December, the old accounts and cards will no longer work.
