Nigerian card-issuing fintech Allawee will close its business and personal account services on December 1, 2026, after Paystack quietly acquired the company in 2025 in a deal that was never publicly announced.
Customers Notified by Email
Allawee informed customers of the shutdown through two emails, stating that its technology now operates within Paystack. The company warned that any payment sent to an Allawee account number from December 1 will fail, and that its cards will stop working after that date, regardless of the expiry date printed on them.
Customers have until November 30 to withdraw their balances, update their bank details with anyone who sends them money, and replace Allawee card details linked to subscriptions or recurring payments. Allawee said customer funds will not expire or be forfeited, but anyone left with a balance after the deadline will need to contact the company directly to request a manual payout. Allawee and Paystack have both declined to comment on the acquisition or the closure.
Part of a Broader Consolidation Strategy
Allawee is the second fintech brand Paystack has acquired and folded into its operations this year, following the absorption of business banking startup Brass into Paystack’s microfinance bank in June. Brass itself was acquired through a consortium in 2024.
Since January, Paystack has also acquired Ladder Microfinance Bank, a move that gave it access to a banking licence, and has since restructured under a new holding company. Together, the deals point to Paystack, Nigeria’s largest payments processor, methodically assembling a full financial-services stack through acquisitions rather than building every capability from scratch internally.
From Card Infrastructure to Fintech Enabler
Founded in 2022 by Ikenna Enenwali and Oreofe Olurin, Allawee began as a credit card lender before pivoting into card-issuing infrastructure for other fintechs. By May 2025, the company was powering card issuance for platforms including PiggyVest, Nomba and Carbon through a dashboard that cut card launch timelines from months to weeks. Enenwali had previously said the company set out to restore fintechs’ confidence in cards, after years of Nigerian firms dropping Visa and Mastercard to cut costs as bank transfers grew more dominant.
Allawee also offered business accounts through a partnership with Providus Bank and issued a Mastercard credit card targeted at federal civil servants and members of Nigeria’s National Youth Service Corps. Those product lines are now being split between two separate Paystack businesses.
What It Means for Nigerian Fintech
The Allawee shutdown adds to a growing pattern of consolidation in Nigeria’s fintech sector, where larger, well-capitalised players are absorbing smaller infrastructure providers rather than competing with them. For African founders and fintech operators, the deal is a reminder that acquisitions are increasingly happening quietly, with customers only finding out once shutdown timelines are already in motion.
For businesses that relied on Allawee’s card infrastructure, the transition also underscores a broader dependency risk in Africa’s fintech stack: many customer-facing products run on infrastructure controlled by a handful of larger players, meaning a single acquisition can reshape access to accounts, cards and payment rails with little public warning. As Paystack continues to build out its banking and card capabilities, more Nigerian fintechs may find themselves navigating similar transitions in the months ahead.
