KEY POINTS

• Flutterwave Mono acquisition expands beyond core payments.
• Open banking data strengthens credit and risk tools.
• Flutterwave Mono acquisition highlights fintech consolidation.

Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola is pushing his company deeper into Africa’s financial infrastructure, betting that access to bank data will shape the next phase of the continent’s fintech growth.

Flutterwave said it has acquired Nigerian open-banking startup Mono in an all-stock transaction, broadening its business beyond card and mobile money payments. People familiar with the matter estimate the deal’s value at between $25 million and $40 million. The acquisition closed in December 2025 and was announced on Monday.

Agboola leads one of Africa’s largest payment networks, enabling merchants to accept local and cross-border transfers across more than 30 countries. Mono adds a different layer to that ecosystem: software that allows businesses, with customer consent, to access bank account data, verify identities and initiate direct bank payments. “Payments, data and trust cannot exist in silos,” Agboola said in a statement, describing open banking as a bridge between safer payments and better credit decisions.

Flutterwave Mono acquisition shifts fintech strategy

Founded in 2020, Mono has raised about $17.5 million from investors including Tiger Global, General Catalyst and Target Global. Sources said all investors at least recovered their capital, while some early backers recorded returns of up to 20 times. Mono will continue operating as an independent product, the companies said.

Mono CEO Abdulhamid Hassan said the company’s tools underpin much of Nigeria’s digital lending market. According to the startup, nearly all local digital lenders rely on its services, which have enabled more than 8 million bank account connections, roughly 12% of Nigeria’s banked population. Mono says it has delivered about 100 billion financial data points to lenders and processed millions of direct bank payments for clients including Moniepoint and PalmPay.

Billionaires Africa also reports that the acquisition comes as African governments promote lending-led financial inclusion, even as access to reliable credit data remains limited. In many markets, thin credit bureau coverage forces lenders to rely on transaction histories to assess income, spending patterns and repayment capacity.

Flutterwave Mono acquisition targets credit data gaps

“If the economy is going to be credit driven, you need deep data intelligence,” Hassan said, while adding that regulatory trust around data protection will be critical for open banking to scale.

Flutterwave said integrating Mono’s data infrastructure with its payments stack will allow businesses to onboard customers faster, perform bank checks, assess risk and set up one-time or recurring account-to-account payments.

The transaction further adds to a small list of notable fintech exits in Africa, where mergers and acquisitions remain relatively rare. As infrastructure providers mature, consolidation is beginning to reshape the sector around a handful of scaled platforms.