Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company, today announced that it has been granted a full Nigerian banking license by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This achievement marks a defining moment in the company’s decade-long journey to create a robust financial infrastructure for the continent.
According to Flutterwave, the license enables it to hold funds and deposits directly, strengthening its financial infrastructure across its largest market and enabling more efficient financial services and settlement flows for consumers, businesses, and enterprises.
By securing this banking license, the fintech gains greater control over how funds move within its ecosystem, including the ability to hold deposits and manage financial flows across its platform.
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While Flutterwave will continue to work closely with banking partners across the broader financial ecosystem, the license enables the company to internalize key elements of its financial value chain, improving operational efficiency and supporting faster product development. This shift strengthens operational autonomy and allows Flutterwave to capture more value from the transactions processed within its ecosystem.
Speaking on securing a banking license, Flutterwave founder and CEO Olugbenga Agboola said,
“This milestone allows us to make our infrastructure more efficient and deliver faster, more reliable financial services. By operating directly within the financial system, we can streamline money movement, accelerate settlement for merchants, and build products that support sustainable long-term growth.”
The new banking license comes on the heels of Flutterwave’s acquisition of Mono, Nigeria’s pioneering open banking startup, earlier in 2026. This strategic move has significantly strengthened the company’s capabilities in account connectivity, data infrastructure, and seamless bank-linked payments.
With this license, the company is bringing that same infrastructure into a new generation of banking built for:
- Consumer Financial Services: Seamless accounts, transfers, and payments for everyday users within the SendApp ecosystem.
- Business Financial Tools: Accounts, payouts, payroll, and multi-currency capabilities for businesses of every size.
- Enterprise Treasury Infrastructure: Tools to manage complex financial operations, treasury, and liquidity.
- Digital Platforms: Embedded financial services for marketplaces and platform operators.
- Developers: Programmable financial infrastructure enabling the creation of financial products through APIs.
Integrated Financial Solutions
The banking license enhances Flutterwave’s core payments business by allowing the company to optimize settlement flows and manage funds more efficiently within its ecosystem.
- SendApp Users: Over a million people using SendApp will now access enhanced financial services, including personal account numbers and instant transfers, without switching apps.
- Flutterwave for Business: Over 2 million businesses can now open accounts, manage payouts, run payroll, and access multi-currency capabilities.
- Smart Financial Tools: Flutterwave will introduce data-driven financial services, including working capital financing and merchant lending powered by real transaction data, alongside treasury and savings products.
Founded with a vision to fix fragmented payment systems where transactions often failed, settlements were slow, and businesses had to rebuild infrastructure for every new market, Flutterwave has steadily connected the dots across Africa’s financial ecosystem.
The fintech has consistently expanded its regulatory footprint, holding over 50 licenses across more than 35 countries, making it one of the most licensed non-bank fintechs globally. To date, it has processed over $40 billion in payments and enabled more than 1 billion unique transactions.
Notably, Flutterwave continues to explore new technologies, including stablecoin-enabled settlement, to improve global payment efficiency further and connect African businesses to the global economy.
The recent banking license development, positions Flutterwave to deliver faster, smarter, and more scalable banking experiences tailored to the realities of African businesses. By combining its extensive payments network with Mono’s open banking technology and the new banking license, the company aims to reduce friction, improve trust, and unlock greater financial inclusion across the continent.