London fintech Guavapay founder quits ahead of Mastercard court battle
The founder of London fintech Guavapay has resigned as a director as the firm gears up for a court case brought by payments giant Mastercard.
Azerbaijani entrepreneur and Russian university graduate Orkhan Nasibov, who launched the company in 2017, has stepped back from his role at the helm of the company due to “fatigue and health related reasons,” a spokesperson said.
The fintech was issued a winding up petition by Mastercard on Christmas Eve, Morning Wire revealed last month, in a move that could force the company into liquidation if it does not reach an agreement over monies owed to Mastercard, one of its biggest creditors. Mastercard said the petition was filed with the courts on 13 November.
That came after Guavapay was forced to suspend onboarding new customers and accepting new funds into its MyGuava App and MyGuava Business platform in September following an intervention from the UK’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) “” over customer due diligence and fraud prevention measures.
The court hearing is scheduled to begin today. Mastercard declined to comment.
In a statement, a Guavapay spokesperson said that as a result of the FCA action, “the business experienced an immediate and significant disruption to its primary revenue streams, which has placed the company in a very challenging financial position while it continues working to meet its ongoing obligations.
“This situation has also had a considerable stressful impact on the team, given the uncertainty and operational pressure created by these circumstances.
“In light of the above, and due to accumulated stress, fatigue and health-related reasons, the company’s director, Orkhan Nasibov, has stepped back from management in order to focus on his health recovery.”
Guavapay posted turnover of £23.4m in 2024, a near-doubling compared to the previous year, according to accounts filed with Companies House. It made a pre-tax profit of just under £2m.Late last year, the company opened a subsidiary in Azerbaijan, which was handed an e-money licence to begin offering services earlier this year. In December, the firm gifted a rug to Canada policy chief Chris Hayward.