Oluwagbenga Matthew Afolabi@gmattworld · Lagos Oluwagbenga
Matthew Afolabi
I convert Dreamware to Software.
For over a decade I have built the systems African money runs on: agency banking networks, payment services, and corporate banking solutions trusted by banks and fintechs. Today that same energy goes into products of my own. If you can dream it, I can build it.
Oluwagbenga Matthew Afolabi
gmattworld
- Years in fintech engineering
- 10+
- Ventures live
- 3
- Industries built for
- 5+
About
The engineer behind the code
I'm a software engineer and founder who has spent over a decade in fintech, moving from agency banking to banking services to corporate banking solutions, always close to where money actually moves.
At Touch and Pay (YC W22) I lead the Interstate Booking integration and work with the CTO on core payment infrastructure, including integrations with major Nigerian banks and NIBSS. Before that I led banking-solution teams at Africa Prudential and Sabi, and shipped agency banking platforms at Global Accelerex that processed 1.5 million transactions in a single month.
Where I'm headed is the harder shift: from building it myself to building companies that run without me. IntellectMate, Spike Console, and AltarBase are that work in progress, built on a simple conviction that African businesses and institutions deserve world-class software.
Core stack: C# / .NET · TypeScript / Angular · Python / FastAPI · Flutter · PostgreSQL · AWS
I believe
African businesses and institutions deserve world-class software.
I believe
Boring reliability is the most ambitious feature you can ship.
I believe
A company is only real when it runs without its builder.
Ventures
Products I've founded
Built and operated end to end, from architecture and brand to launch and growth.
Built earlier: Grantpedia and Applibry, now part of Spike Console.
Experience
Where I've made an impact
2023 — Present
Lead, Interstate Booking Integration
Touch and Pay (YC W22)
Leading the Interstate Booking System integration for transport ticketing across states, and working with the CTO on core payment infrastructure, including secure integrations with major Nigerian banks and NIBSS. Optimised contactless payment backends for a 25% gain in processing speed.
PaymentsNIBSSInfrastructure2023 — 2024
Team Lead, Co-operative Solutions
Africa Prudential
Led delivery of cooperative and investment banking solutions: fund deposits, loan tracking, membership, share records, and corporate actions, while directing a multidisciplinary engineering team.
Corporate bankingLeadershipInvestments2022
Team Lead, Order Management System
Sabi
Led the team behind Sabi's order management system, covering order lifecycles from placement to fulfilment, deployed and localised across multiple countries. The platform won Most Stable Solution of the Year 2022.
OMSAward winnerLeadership2021 — 2022
Senior Software Engineer
Global Accelerex
Built agency banking and POS platforms (ANP, POSVAS) that processed 1.5M+ transactions in a single month, delivered real-time notifications across multiple countries, and migrated messaging from AWS SNS/SQS to RabbitMQ to cut latency.
Agency bankingPOSRabbitMQ2019 — 2021
Senior Backend Engineer
Lubred Technology
Delivered backend systems across sectors, from environmental health monitoring for regulators to real-time fleet tracking with geofencing and edtech platforms, on RESTful and GraphQL APIs.
GraphQLBackendConsulting2015 — 2019
Fullstack Developer
Systems Variant
Built and maintained a school management system used by institutions to run academic and administrative operations end to end: records, attendance, and financial management.
EdTechFull-stack
Services
Two ways to work with me
Bring a business that needs running, or a money system that needs building. Either way, you get the same obsession with software that just works.
Spike Console studio builds
Bring your business, leave with an operation that runs itself. I set up and operate Spike Console for you: CRM, commerce, finance, and AI agents working on one shared memory, with no dev team to hire and one monthly invoice.
Start a buildFintech engineering consulting
Ten years of fintech, at your service: agency banking networks, banking services, corporate banking solutions, transaction switching, gateway integrations, and the reliability work that keeps money moving at scale.
Book a consultWriting
Notes on software, money & building
Founder Journey
From 'I Can Build It' to Companies That Run Without Me
For a decade, being able to build anything was my superpower. It quietly became my ceiling. On folding two products, running a studio, and the hard shift from shipping software to building companies.
Sep 18, 2026
Engineering
Boring Reliability: What a Decade in Payments Taught Me About Software That Survives
The award I'm proudest of says 'most stable', not 'most innovative'. A decade of payment switches, reversals, and offline terminals taught me that reliability is not the absence of excitement. It is the product.
Sep 12, 2026
Finance
Before the Ledger: What Money Really Is, and How It Got That Way
We use money every hour of our lives and almost never stop to ask what it really is. This piece traces money from cowrie shells to central banks, and explains why understanding its past is the key to navigating its future.
Jun 17, 2026
Worked with
Companies I've built for
A few of the organisations I've built for over the years, as an employee, a lead, or a partner.
Recommendations
What colleagues say
Contact
Let's build something
Building something in fintech, or want Spike Console run for you? Tell me about it.
