Three Nigerian entrepreneurs have unveiled the public waitlist for ChatPay, a conversational banking platform built to make financial transactions easier by allowing users to send money, pay bills and purchase airtime directly within WhatsApp.

The Lagos-based fintech startup was founded by Adeoluwasubomi Odebunmi, Aseoluwa Siyanbola and Abraham William, who said the idea emerged after they repeatedly encountered challenges with conventional banking services, including failed transfers, application downtime and complicated payment processes.

Operated by CP Technology Limited and headquartered on Ikorodu Road, Maryland, Lagos, ChatPay is currently undergoing a controlled rollout while working with licensed banking partners ahead of its full public launch.

According to the company, the platform is being developed to enable individuals and businesses to complete financial transactions without leaving an ongoing WhatsApp conversation.

Explaining the motivation behind the innovation, Product Lead and Co-Founder, Adeoluwasubomi Odebunmi, said the concept originated during her time as a Software Engineering student at Babcock University.

“I saw the gap while I was still in school how much friction there was just to move money. I didn’t want to just study the problem. I wanted to help fix it,” Odebunmi said.

The company noted that Odebunmi, a recent graduate of Babcock University, previously worked on software projects covering e-commerce, real estate management, school administration systems and artificial intelligence-driven medical diagnostic tools before co-founding ChatPay.

Growth Lead and Co-Founder, Aseoluwa Siyanbola, said his inspiration came from observing Nigerians living abroad struggle to access banking services back home.

He explained that persistent one-time password (OTP) failures and unreliable banking applications motivated him to explore open banking solutions before eventually connecting with his co-founders.

“We’re not three people who met at a big company and decided to start something together. We each ran into the same wall on our own and found each other while looking for a way through it,” Siyanbola said.

Siyanbola, who is currently studying in the United States, added that the founders have been building the platform together since they were 19 years old.

Tech Lead and Co-Founder, Abraham William, said the company is committed to making financial services easier to access by eliminating unnecessary technological barriers.

“Technology should not make people feel left behind. We are building ChatPay so that anyone, regardless of their technical knowledge, can access financial services through something as familiar and simple as a conversation,” William said.

According to the company, William oversees the platform’s technology strategy, engineering, system architecture and software development, drawing on his experience in fintech, artificial intelligence, blockchain and enterprise software.

ChatPay stated that its money transfer and payment capabilities are being introduced in phases as regulatory approvals and certifications from banking partners are secured.

The startup added that although its long-term objective is to make conversational banking available to millions of users across Africa, it is adopting a phased deployment strategy.

As part of the rollout, ChatPay has opened a public waitlist for early access and introduced the “Founding 2,500” initiative, a community of early adopters who will test upcoming features, provide product feedback and help shape the platform before its wider release.

The founders said interested users can join the waitlist through the company’s official website.

Founded by Odebunmi, Siyanbola and William, ChatPay aims to enable individuals and businesses to send money, pay bills, buy airtime and manage payments directly within WhatsApp once the platform is fully launched.

Source: PM News