Africa’s largest cross-border payments startup is making a decisive bet on infrastructure. Flutterwave has agreed to acquire Mono, an open banking firm it once partnered with, tightening its grip on financial data, identity, and direct bank payments as competition and regulatory pressure intensify across the continent.
The deal underscores a broader shift in African fintech: control the rails, or risk being squeezed out.
A strategic acquisition years in the making
Flutterwave did not stumble into open banking overnight. The company first partnered with Mono in 2022, integrating data access tools into parts of its platform while continuing to focus publicly on payments volume and geographic expansion.
Now, that relationship has moved fully in-house.
By acquiring Mono, Flutterwave gains native access to application programming interfaces that connect directly with banks and fintechs. This allows the company to pull verified financial data, run identity checks, and enable account-to-account payments without relying on external vendors.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Still, the intent is clear. Flutterwave wants fewer dependencies and more control over how money, data, and trust move across African markets.
This matters more than it might sound at first glance.
Why open banking has become essential in Africa
Africa’s financial system remains deeply fragmented. Each country operates under its own regulatory framework, banking standards, and payment habits. Even within borders, interoperability can be patchy.
Open banking promises a workaround.
By allowing secure, permissioned access to bank data and payment initiation, fintechs can build services that work across institutions rather than being locked into one. For businesses operating regionally, that flexibility is no longer optional.
Flutterwave’s move reflects that reality.
Instead of layering open banking on top of payments, the company is embedding it at the core of its stack. That opens doors to features that were previously harder to scale, including authenticated transfers and richer payment flows that reduce fraud and failed transactions.
It also lays groundwork for products that have yet to fully emerge.
What Mono brings to the table
Founded in 2020, Mono built its reputation quietly but steadily.
The Lagos-based company provides tools for financial data access, identity verification, and direct bank payments. According to company figures, Mono supports more than five million linked accounts across over 500 banks and fintechs, spanning three countries.
That footprint gives Flutterwave immediate depth.
Instead of building those connections bank by bank, country by country, Flutterwave absorbs an existing network with regulatory and technical muscle already in place.
Mono’s platform has been used by lenders, payroll providers, and consumer-facing apps that rely on accurate account data. Folding that capability into Flutterwave’s scale creates a combination that is harder for rivals to replicate quickly.
As Mono founder Abdulhamid Hassan put it, the pairing blends infrastructure with reach.
Leadership signals a long-term infrastructure play
Flutterwave founder and chief executive Olugbenga Agboola framed the acquisition as a philosophical shift, not just a product update.
Payments, data, and trust, he said, cannot operate separately. Open banking acts as the connective layer that binds them together.
That language mirrors how global fintech giants talk about infrastructure rather than apps.
Mono’s leadership echoed the sentiment. Hassan described the deal as a chance to build an infrastructure layer capable of supporting the next phase of African fintech growth, at speed and at scale.
Notably, Mono will continue to operate independently once the acquisition closes.
Its leadership team remains in place. Operational control stays local. Innovation timelines remain unchanged.
This structure suggests Flutterwave wants capability, not disruption.
Flutterwave’s scale adds context to the deal
Flutterwave processes an average of 500,000 payments per day and supports transactions in more than 30 currencies. Since its founding in 2016, the company says it has processed over one billion transactions worth more than $40 billion.
It has also raised more than $470 million from global investors.
Those numbers give weight to the acquisition.
At Flutterwave’s scale, even small improvements in authorization rates or fraud reduction can have outsized financial impact. Open banking tools that verify accounts and authenticate payments can meaningfully shift those metrics.
The company already offers invoicing, business loans, and analytics. Deeper data access allows those products to become more accurate and, potentially, more profitable.
Infrastructure feeds product velocity.
Industry shift toward authenticated payment flows
The deal also reflects a wider industry trend.
Across global markets, payment providers are moving away from card-heavy systems toward bank-based, authenticated transfers. These reduce chargebacks, lower fees, and provide cleaner audit trails.
In Africa, the appeal is amplified by uneven card penetration and persistent fraud challenges.
By tightly integrating data and payments, fintechs can confirm identity, validate balances, and initiate transfers in one flow. That improves conversion rates and customer trust.
Flutterwave’s acquisition positions it squarely in that camp.
It also opens paths into alternative use cases, including open banking-enabled stablecoin settlements and cross-border treasury products, though the company has not formally announced such offerings.
Competitive pressure and regulatory realities
African fintech is no longer a greenfield.
Local startups, regional champions, and global players are all competing for merchants, developers, and regulators’ confidence. At the same time, compliance requirements are tightening.
Owning core infrastructure gives companies more control over how they meet those obligations.
Rather than stitching together third-party services, Flutterwave can align data handling, compliance checks, and payment logic under one roof. That reduces risk. It also speeds iteration when rules change.
For regulators, fewer moving parts can mean clearer accountability.
That may prove valuable as authorities across Africa scrutinize cross-border flows more closely.
A step toward full-stack financial infrastructure
This acquisition nudges Flutterwave closer to a full-stack model.
Payments sit at the surface. Beneath them lie data access, identity, and bank connectivity. By bringing those layers together, the company reduces friction and increases defensibility.
Competitors can copy pricing. They can copy features.
Infrastructure is harder to copy.
For Africa’s fragmented financial ecosystem, tighter integration between payments and data could improve interoperability over time. For Flutterwave, it offers leverage in a crowded market.
