Why Nigerian fintech Duplo is turning to banks to distribute its software

Duplo, a Nigerian startup that builds financial operations software for businesses, wants banks to drive its next phase of growth. It has partnered with Wema Bank, one of Nigeria’s oldest lenders, to distribute its software through ALAT Business, the bank’s business banking platform, a model Duplo’s chief executive officer, Yele Oyekola, said the startup plans to replicate with other banks.

Wema Bank is the first commercial bank to distribute Duplo’s software. The move reflects an emerging pattern across Africa’s financial services industry in the past three years: banks and payment networks partnering with fintech startups to offer their business customers software they want, without building it themselves.

In 2023, global card issuer-processor Paymentology partnered with Boya, a Kenyan business spend management startup, and Diamond Trust Bank (DTB), a mid-tier lender, to launch virtual corporate expense cards that combine banking infrastructure with expense management software.

In 2024, Mastercard, the payments giant, struck a similar partnership with South African fintech SAVA, giving businesses across South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt access to expense management, digital accounts, and accounting tools through SAVA’s platform.

“A lot of the banks are actually in a shift now where their customers are requesting, or even going to fintech platforms like Duplo and others, to get more than the banks can provide,” Oyekola told TechCabal in an interview on Wednesday. “Doing that work as a bank would require layers of approvals and technical resources that might distract them from their core [operation]. That was why it made sense for them [Wema Bank] to work with us.”

Founded in 2021 by Oyekola and Tunde Akinnuwa, Duplo develops software to help businesses manage their finances. Under its partnership with Wema Bank, ALAT Business customers can use Duplo’s software without leaving the platform.

The platform lets companies automate local and international payments, manage expenses and approval workflows, generate and collect invoices, automate vendor payments, monitor cash flow through real-time reporting, and reconcile transactions from a single dashboard. Existing ALAT Business customers will receive three months of complimentary access, Duplo said in a statement.

Oyekola said building the platform entirely in-house allows Duplo to absorb the cost of offering ALAT Business customers free access during the three-month introductory period. Duplo and Wema Bank will share subscription revenue from customers who continue using the software after the free period, though Oyekola declined to disclose the specific terms. The startup also makes money from transaction fees charged on payments processed through its platform.

The Wema Bank-Duplo integration builds on an existing relationship between the two companies, according to Oyekola. The lender had already been providing virtual accounts to some of Duplo’s customers before both companies agreed to take it a step further by embedding Duplo’s software directly into ALAT Business.

Oyekola said Duplo is open to pursuing similar deals with other banks, but for now, the startup’s immediate focus is driving adoption among Wema Bank’s small and medium enterprise (SME) and mid-market business customers.

The fintech currently serves over 1,000 businesses, including mid-market and enterprise clients, such as Heineken and Maersk, and processes over $1 billion in annualised payment volume, according to Oyekola. The startup has raised $13 million across three funding rounds from investors including Point Nine Ventures and Commerce Ventures, according to him.

The Nigerian fintech is not the only startup targeting this market. Startups such as Bujeti and Flex Finance also offer expense and spend-management tools directly to businesses, while Côte d’Ivoire’s Julaya serves a similar market across Francophone Africa.

Duplo competes in the global business spend management (BSM) software market, which consulting firm Data Insights estimates will reach $26.68 billion in 2026, with the Middle East and Africa (MEA) accounting for about 8% of that market.

“We focus heavily on mid-market and enterprise clients in Nigeria, and they drive a lot of our volumes as well,” Oyekola said. “Across [our] portfolio, about 20% of our customers are mid-market to enterprise businesses; we don’t serve any business in the MSME space—it’s mostly SMEs, mid-markets, and enterprises.”

Duplo has built a financial operating system over the past several years, with its engineering team making up the largest share of its workforce, according to Oyekola. The platform has expanded from payment automation into treasury management, accounts payable, expense management, invoice generation, collections, reconciliation, international vendor payments, and financial reporting.

Oyekola said Duplo’s core technology business is now operating at break-even, with revenue fully covering the cost of developing and maintaining its platform. While the company is not yet profitable overall, he said it expects to reach profitability by 2027.

Duplo operates in Nigeria and South Africa, but it is taking different approaches to growth in each market. In April, Duplo partnered with fintech Ozow as part of its expansion into South Africa, relying on the latter’s payment infrastructure and regulatory licences to serve local businesses.

“Nigeria is our home market, South Africa is an expansion market,” Oyekola said. “We don’t have the same reach in South Africa that we have in Nigeria, and there are some gaps in our regulatory framework there. Ozow was the ideal partner for that, so we use Ozow as our payment service provider [PSP] in South Africa. In Nigeria, we provide that end-to-end because we have a PSP and an IMTO [international money transfer operator] [licence] as well.”

The Wema Bank partnership reflects a broader shift in how banks and fintechs work together. Banks provide regulated infrastructure and customer relationships, while startups such as Duplo provide the software businesses use to manage their finances. If that model spreads, banks could become one of Duplo’s biggest customer acquisition channels.

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