Duplo partners with Wema Bank to automate finances for Nigerian businesses

Duplo, a Nigerian company that builds financial operations software for businesses, has partnered with Wema Bank to embed its platform inside ALAT for Business, the bank’s digital banking service for companies, the companies announced on July 21 in Lagos. The integration lets businesses automate payments, manage expenses and approvals, generate and collect invoices, and handle reconciliation from a single system.

Wema Bank is the first commercial bank to distribute Duplo’s software, according to TechCabal. Yele Oyekola, chief executive and co-founder of Duplo, said the company plans to replicate the bank-distribution model with other lenders. “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,” he told the publication.

Finance teams at mid-sized Nigerian firms spend an estimated 30 to 50 hours a month on manual reconciliation, dispute resolution and audit preparation, according to figures cited by the companies. The integration gives ALAT business customers a Wema Bank virtual account for collections and processes payments over the bank’s rails, while letting them generate electronic invoices that comply with Nigeria Revenue Service requirements, according to Investors King.

“This partnership reflects our focus on building a digital banking platform that supports how businesses actually operate,” said Tunde Mabawonku, executive director for finance and digital optimization at Wema Bank, in a statement carried by Tribune Online. He said customers increasingly need more than payment services alone.

Founded in 2021 by Oyekola and Tunde Akinnuwa, Duplo positions itself as a financial operating system for African businesses. The tie-up follows a wider pattern of Nigerian banks combining core banking with embedded financial tools, and echoes a 2024 partnership between Mastercard and the fintech SAVA that gave businesses across South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt access to expense management and accounting tools.