Flutterwave Makes Major Fintech Move with Acquisition of Nigerian Open Banking Firm
Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company, has announced a significant acquisition in the African fintech space — buying Nigerian open banking infrastructure provider Mono in a strategic all-stock deal reported to be worth between US$25 million and US$40 million. TechCrunch+1
The transaction, completed late in 2025 and disclosed publicly in early January 2026, marks one of the biggest fintech infrastructure consolidations in Africa’s digital finance sector to date, highlighting the growing importance of open banking technology in driving financial inclusion and market integration across the continent. TechCrunch
What Flutterwave Has Acquired
The company acquired Mono, a Nigerian open banking startup founded in 2020 that provides API-driven access to financial data, identity verification, and account-to-account payments. Mono’s technology connects with more than 50 banks and is estimated to have enabled over 8 million bank account linkages — roughly 12% of Nigeria’s banked population. Ecofin Agency
Rather than absorbing Mono completely into its operations, Flutterwave said Mono will continue to operate independently under its existing leadership while aligning strategically with Flutterwave’s broader payments ecosystem. Ecofin Agency
Why This Matters
Founded in 2016, Flutterwave has become one of Africa’s most valuable fintech firms, offering payment services across more than 30 African countries and facilitating billions of transactions. This acquisition underscores Flutterwave’s ambition to broaden its product offerings beyond traditional payment rails and into the open banking and data-driven finance era. Wikipedia
Open banking — which enables secure sharing of financial data and bank-to-bank transactions — is seen as a key component of the future of African digital finance. By integrating Mono’s infrastructure, Flutterwave aims to:
- Accelerate onboarding and customer verification
- Expand account-to-account payment services
- Strengthen fraud detection and risk assessment
- Enable richer data insights for lending and digital products
Industry analysts say this move signals a shift away from card-centric payment systems toward bank-centric, authenticated financial ecosystems that could unlock deeper financial inclusion and more tailored services for businesses and individuals alike. Ecofin Agency
Voices from the Deal
Flutterwave’s founder and CEO, Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, described the acquisition as strategically aligned with the company’s vision of “building the next generation of African financial infrastructure,” where payments, data, and trust work seamlessly together.
Mono’s co-founder and CEO, Abdulhamid Hassan, said the acquisition builds on years of partnership and reflects shared ambitions to expand the reach and utility of open banking across the continent. TechCrunch
Implications for Africa’s Fintech Landscape
The Flutterwave-Mono deal comes at a time of increased consolidation in Africa’s finance sector, particularly as digital payments, open banking, and embedded finance grow rapidly. Investors and stakeholders see this deal as a milestone for African tech ecosystems, where local innovation meets scalable continental platforms.
Some early investors in Mono are reported to have realised significant returns, given the acquisition price relative to the startup’s previous funding rounds. TechCrunch
For the broader market, this acquisition raises expectations that more African fintech platforms will seek strategic partnerships or integrations that strengthen interoperability, data access, and financial inclusion across borders.
What Comes Next?
Flutterwave says it will continue to support Mono’s independent innovation while gradually integrating its open banking capabilities into Flutterwave’s global payments network. As both companies work together, customers across corporate, SME, and consumer segments can expect more robust, data-empowered financial services that span traditional and new banking interactions.