Flutterwave has secured a Nigerian banking licence, marking a major step in its evolution from a payments processor to a full-scale financial platform.
Olugbenga Agboola, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Flutterwave, announced the development in a post on Thursday.
According to the statement, the licence enables Flutterwave to hold funds and deposits directly, marking a significant milestone in its transition toward becoming a more comprehensive financial infrastructure platform.
“By operating with direct infrastructure, we can streamline our operations and accelerate payment flows for everyone,” the statement reads.
“Businesses will soon be able to hold balances within Flutterwave, access improved treasury services, and benefit from data-driven lending.”
Commenting, Agboola said the milestone allows “us to make our infrastructure more efficient and deliver faster, more reliable financial services.”
By operating directly within the financial system, he said the fintech can simplify money transfers, speed up merchant settlements, and develop products that support sustainable long-term growth.
Agboola described the approval as a pivotal milestone in the company’s 10-year journey to build the financial infrastructure that will power Africa’s future.
“A decade ago, we started with a simple belief: better infrastructure changes everything. Payments failed too often, settlement was slow, and expansion meant rebuilding from scratch. So we focused on connecting what was fragmented,” he said.
“With the acquisition of Mono earlier this year, we deepened that connectivity.
“Now we are going further by building a unified platform where businesses can open accounts, accept and send payments, manage payouts, run payroll, and operate across currencies in one place—with access to lending and working capital powered by real transaction data.”
Agboola said businesses can now manage their full financial operations seamlessly, while developers can create and scale new financial products directly on the company’s infrastructure.
The founder added that the company can now build, innovate, and solve customer problems faster than before “because we now control the value chain of payments in Nigeria.”
