Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company, has acquired Mono, a pioneer in open banking infrastructure, in a deal that strengthens its push toward bank-based and alternative payment methods across the continent.
The acquisition reinforces Flutterwave’s long-term strategy of building a connected and interoperable financial ecosystem for Africa, with open banking positioned as a core pillar of its payments infrastructure.
Mono provides API-driven access to financial data, identity verification, and account-to-account payments—capabilities that are becoming increasingly vital as African markets shift toward secure, data-led financial services.
Under the terms of the deal, Mono will continue to operate independently, with no changes to its leadership, team, or daily operations. Flutterwave’s stake is designed to enable strategic alignment rather than operational control, allowing Mono to maintain its innovation pace while integrating its infrastructure into Flutterwave’s wider ecosystem.
The acquisition reflects a broader industry shift away from card-based rails toward authenticated, bank-linked, and locally relevant payment methods.
By integrating Mono’s open banking APIs, Flutterwave aims to deliver:
- Faster merchant onboarding
- Stronger identity and bank verification
- Reduced fraud
- Seamless account-to-account payments
The partnership also opens pathways to richer alternative payment flows and, over time, open banking-enabled stablecoin use cases.
Beyond payments, the deal simplifies compliance-heavy processes such as KYC and bank verification for businesses, improving conversion rates and operational reliability at scale.
Developers and partners benefit from a unified platform where payments and financial data coexist, reducing complexity and speeding up product deployment. Regulators, meanwhile, gain from greater standardisation, stronger data protection, and adherence to global security frameworks, including PCI-DSS and ISO 27001.
Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, Flutterwave Founder and CEO, said the acquisition reflects the future of financial infrastructure in Africa.
“Payments, data, and trust cannot exist in silos. Open banking provides the connective tissue, and Mono has built critical infrastructure in this space. This move expands what’s possible for businesses across African markets while keeping security, compliance, and local relevance at the core,” he said.
Abdulhamid Hassan, Mono Founder and CEO, said the deal builds on years of collaboration between both companies.
“Since partnering with Flutterwave in 2021, we’ve seen the power of coordinated efforts toward unlocking Africa’s open banking potential. Combining Mono’s capabilities with Flutterwave’s scale creates a more comprehensive and defensible infrastructure for the next generation of African fintech,” he said.
The transaction, advised by The Chrysalis Advisors Africa, signals a deliberate shift toward open, interoperable, and trust-driven financial systems to support Africa’s rapidly expanding digital economy.
